The Illusionary Resistance: A Sonic Forces rewrite
by Infinite's Ruby
Summary: Sonic has fallen to a mysterious enemy leading to Eggman's forces conquering 99.9% of the world. Knuckles leads a small Resistance composed of allies making a last stand to take Mobius back from Eggman. Sonic and a young wolf named Gadget are forced to fight in a near hopeless conflict against Infinite and the iron grip of the Eggman Empire to save Mobius from ruin.
1. Raiders from the Desert

The sun rose high into the blue skies above Mobius' deserts. A few hardy plants and animals had adapted to this harsh landscape. There were even rumors that some Mobians had founded Shamar a prominent city situated to the easternmost part of the desert. A large pyramid structure stood out in the middle of the desert and within the walls of the building, Doctor Eggman paced back and forth inside the lab structure of his newly created base the Arsenal pyramid, the room barely lit. The only light sources were several large tubes filled with blue liquid illuminating the bare room.

Eggman quit his pacing, sitting down on the chair at his desk running a critical eye over several small drawings of robots resting on the desk's surface. Metal Sonic stood not too far away from his master a silent sentinel. The robot flexed his metallic fingers in a gesture of impatience. Eggman tapped his pencil against the white surface of the paper then he sketched a small bee-like shape on the paper before Eggman stopped his drawing sighing in disappointment.

Eggman gritted his teeth crumpling several of his drawings up in frustration tossing them into a small wastebasket already overflowing with scrapped robot designs. Orbot and Cubot nearby polishing the glass surface of the canisters.

Eggman pushed back his chair standing up out of it resuming his furious pacing. The sweat was trickling down his forehead even though the AC units were running at full power sending a cooling breeze throughout his base, Eggman still could feel the heat through the metallic walls of the Arsenal Pyramid.

"I can't seem, to come up with any robot designs," Eggman snarled in frustration. "Ideas aren't just coming to me like they used to."

"Maybe you have an artist's block Boss."

Eggman shook his head from side to side dismissing Orbot's suggestion. The trouble was that no matter how well put together his plans Sonic would always sabotage his carefully constructed plans. Every time he'd suffered a defeat at the hands of the blue hedgehog the smug smile he saw on Sonic's face was more than enough to make his blood boil with rage.

He rubbed his temples his irritation was building he let out a low aggravated sigh closing his eyes in defeat. He'd chosen this exact spot in the desert because it was isolated thus no one would even think to seek him out while he plotted his next scheme.

"I need to do something to defeat Sonic and his rabble once and for all!" A dull boom echoed off the side of the side of the pyramid. Metal Sonic immediately snapped to attention taking several steps forward; his sharp metallic claws extended. Metal Sonic was revving his jet engine to go out to confront whoever would be stupid enough to launch an attack.

"Stand down Metal Sonic!" Eggman called out, attracting the robotic hedgehog's attention, causing him to skid to a near perfect stop turning his head back to glare at Eggman in impatience a series of low beeps emitted from the robot in protest.

"Boss the radar's picking up a strange energy reading," Orbot said looking up at the monitor spying a strange shape embedded in the desert sands. "It's right on our doorstep."

"I'll go investigate," Eggman replied, waving a hand at Metal Sonic who'd made to follow his creator. "Metal Sonic wait here."

The wave of desert heat smacked Eggman in the face with a hiss the door opened to the blazing heat. Eggman stepped onto the hot sands raising his hand to shield his eyes from the blinding rays of the sun.

He couldn't seem to find the source of the object that had struck the side of the Arsenal Pyramid. He had to be losing his mind. Looking carefully at the desert sands he saw. A magenta jewel was sticking out like a sore thumb. It was a deep purple with lines of red and black, pulsing through the strange gem's surface.

Against his better judgment, Eggman hastily took a step forward carefully bending down onto one knee scraping away the thin layer of sand covering the gem the very tips of his fingers brushed against the surface of the jewel.

A wave of red energy washed out from the gem along with an indescribable noise assaulting the mad scientist's ears. Eggman immediately raised a hand to shield his eyes from the bright red light. He slowly lowered it warily, his jaw dropped at the unusual sight before his eyes.

A massive golden statue of the mad doctor stood in the middle of the vast theme park with the wide grin on the statue's face with an arm pointing out towards the entrance of his theme park. Eggman walked as though he was in a trance gazing in wonder looking at the metallic structure the giant neon sign with the words Eggman land broadcasted for all the world to see.

"Th-this is Eggman land!" Eggman exclaimed in shock. His brain was struggling to comprehend the bizarre sight in front of him when suddenly Eggman land flickered out of existence. Eggman gaped in shock at the vision of his dream vanishing in a heartbeat.

"No! Bring it back I command you!"

Eggman demanded to tighten his grip on the jewel yanking it out of the sand, examining it from every angle the minuscule grain of sands falling off the side of the gem. Eggman was interested. The mad scientist has seen nothing like it before.

"So, this gem can create powerful hallucinations that can affect a person's reality," Eggman muttered to himself. The smile that appeared on his face was sinister. "Oh, so now you will be an interesting subject for research," Eggman said, speaking to the jewel resting in the palm of his hand. "I think I can get some use out of you."

For the next few days Eggman busied himself with studying the strange gem, he'd run several tests on it examining its properties. On the afternoon of the third day, Eggman observed the gem floating in a tube with one hand stroking his mustache deep in thought.

"This gem is truly a wonder! It can not only create illusions, but it can also alter a single person's reality." Eggman chuckled. "It needs a name befitting of what this marvelous gem can do."

"Ghostly Emerald!" Cubot cried out flailing his arms.

"Now that's not a suitable name," Orbot replied blankly. "Besides, I think we have enough Emeralds."

"Spooky Sapphire!"

"It's a Ruby, not a Sapphire."

Eggman paused, deep in through tuning out the conversation going on between Orbot and Cubot. Metal Sonic looked up towards the monitors, his optics focusing on a group of several black and white shapes come running over the ridge of the nearest dune. The jackal at the at the back of the group loaded several small cannonballs into a small canon like object pointing it right in the direction of the Arsenal Pyramid.

Metal Sonic raised his arm tapping Eggman's shoulder with a single metallic claw only to be ignored by his creator.

The gemstone was a ruby, and it was still giving off waves of purple energy the magenta waves pulsed in the tank the black lines ran through the magenta surface of the gem it resembled a ruby in this light. There was also the fact it could create illusions strong enough strong enough for the person who witnessed them, to genuinely believe what they were seeing was real.

At the moment lost in his thoughts, an inspiration for the mysterious gemstone's name struck Eggman, allowing a small smile to grace his face.

"I'll call it the Phantom Ruby!" Eggman exclaimed, throwing his arms out in a sweeping gesture ignoring the dim protest of Cubot complain that the Phantom Ruby he was his next suggestion.

At that moment a series of explosions rocked through the interior of the pyramid startling everyone inside. Small clouds of dust fell from the ceiling prompting Eggman to turn around a scowl was on his face angered at the second interruption of the day. Someone dared to attack them so foolishly while he was in the middle of his triumph.

"Oh, what now?"

Upon hearing his creator's question, Metal Sonic grabbed Eggman turning him to face the monitors stationed around the room which the screens showed a group of ten jackals that now charged through the desert sands heading towards the small group of robots that were busy patrolling the grounds outside the Arsenal Pyramid.

"Oh, come on! Metal Sonic to me!" Eggman called out removing the Phantom Ruby from its tube running for his Egg mobile with Metal Sonic right behind him heading out to deal with this newest intrusion. Maybe now would be the perfect time to take the Phantom Ruby for its first real test run.

The small army of robots was no match for the small group of jackals cleaving their way through the robots sending robot parts flying everywhere. However, this wasn't just an ordinary band of jackals though; this was the Jackal Squad a group of feared Mercenaries known for hunting down their targets and dispatching them, effortlessly for their leader stood in front of them a scowl on his face.

"Leave no one alive! Our client has promised us a hefty bounty by bringing in this, Eggman Tech!" The leader called out in a deep, authoritative voice. "Jackal Squad move in for the kill!"

The leader ran ahead of the other nine jackals his sword cleaving through the robots with the rest of the Jackal squad not too far behind him racing straight towards Eggman's base. The leader turned his head ever so slightly to fix his gaze on three other jackals running alongside him to his left.

"Saber, Nephthys take out the robots on your left!" the leader called out, pointing with his sword prompting two of the jackals to break away from the group his gaze traveling over to the jackal with a green bandanna tied around his ears.

"Kaito you take Quartz, Flint, and Iris," the lead jackal ducked to avoid the hail of energy pellets from the robots before lashing out with his sword cutting the robot in half. "Deal with the group of robots to the right!"

"On it boss!" Kaito replied enthusiastically. He led three other jackals towards the second group of robots following their leader's instructions. The jackal at the back of the group abandoned his position at the cannon racing with two more jackals towards the ongoing battle.

"Agh! I knew I should've been creating robots instead of obsessing over this jewel!" Eggman growled as the Phantom Ruby glowed red once more. In an instant as though a genie in the bottle had heeded Eggman's wish several hundred Egg pawns stood there. Already racing forward to intercept the Jackal squad.

"Where did these robots come from?" Eggman shook his head dismissing his question. "Never mind, get them! Metal Sonic deal with those jackals!"

Metal Sonic shot off into the fray seizing a pair of jackals, one with a red bandanna and a female engaging them in combat. The pair of jackals ducked and weaved narrowly dodging the onslaught from the robotic hedgehog. The rest of the Jackal Squad clashed against the robotic army, turning the battle into a chaotic situation.

Eggman spied the lead jackal racing towards him past the melee with his teeth gritted his ears pinned flat to his head. There was such an angry expression in the jackals' eyes racing straight to Eggman; he was fast, effortlessly swung his sword from left to right cutting down any robots that stood between him and his target.

The jackal puts on a burst of speed jumping up high into the air. The jackal leader wasn't stupid. He knew who Eggman was. Sonic was far too weak, allowing the mad genius to live after their every encounter; he was the reason that Mobius was in so much danger all the time. The jackal readied his sword for the killing blow spying the brief glimpse of terror flashing on the mad scientist's face witnessing his impending death.

"Time to die fat man!"

"I surrender! I give up!"

Eggman exclaimed in mock fear thrusting his hand with the Phantom Ruby clenched between his fingers towards the path of the sword. The tip of the blade collided with the Phantom Ruby releasing a red haze that swept over the area. The rest of the jackals on the outskirts of the battle cried out in alarm, seeing their leader and target swallowed up by the wave of red energy.

The surrounding desert vanished to be replaced by a desolate wasteland with a piercing red sky with destroyed buildings everywhere. The thick red clouds blotted out the sun completely. Eggman saw no traces of life at all in this desolate wasteland the buildings were all ruined their windows had shattered the only sound was the ghostly low wind howling in the quiet area.

Eggman stared dumbstruck looking around at the devastation in silence. So this is another illusion of the Phantom Ruby, and it's showing this jackals' deepest desires. Eggman thought. He took in the jackal's confused expression surveying the scene with longing in his eyes. There was a confused expression on the jackals' face, but, he was gazing around at the devastated landscape with such a hungry gaze. This jackal didn't care for this world anymore. He wanted to see the world burn.

"What the hell?"

The jackal's words snapped the mad scientist out of his thoughts as Eggman wasted no time in striking at the distracted jackal his fist colliding with the side of his face the surrounding illusion vanished, sending the jackal sprawling to the ground with the cold steel of a robots' barrel pointed at his head.

"Now then, since that, you and your squad put up a somewhat decent fight against my forces...," Eggman trailed of triumph in his tone. "How about all of you join me, and we can change this boring world for good!"

The leader slowly pushed himself to his feet, his lip curled ever so slightly watching the fat man holding the key to the unlimited power just out of his reach frustrating the jackal even further.

Eggman waved his hand still clutching the Phantom Ruby from side to side like a chain on the pendulum the leader's eyes fixed on the Phantom Ruby. Zerinn stood up on the tips of his toes straining to reach for the Phantom Ruby while Eggman smirked, holding it just out of the jackal's reach.

The jackal wouldn't admit it, but his heart filled with longing for the power that the gem had just displayed. That desolate wasteland he wanted to see it again so badly and the energy that radiated from the jewel. If he had that power, then that bleak world would become a reality. Not only that he would become the strongest being Mobius had ever seen, and no one would ever challenge him ever again.

The other nine jackals had their weapons were at their feet. They watched the scene of their leader reaching up for the Phantom Ruby in pure disbelief. One minute their leader had been racing across the sands to deal the finishing blow to their target, and now it was bizarre to see that their leader who was known for going in for the kill was reaching out for the unknown gem.

Kaito gritted his teeth grabbing his flamberge from the ground without even looking back drove his flamberge scoring a direct hit in the head of the robot holding him hostage. Kaito ignored the sparks sputtering out of the robot's head as he surged forward dimly aware of the destroyed robot crashing to the ground behind him seeing two robots point their weapons at him.

"Boss don't be tempted by this deal!" Kaito cried out panic in his voice. "We'll find a way out of this!"

The leader was silent, staring at his hands before a low chuckle emitted from the leader's throat. "You know Doctor I've just realized just how dull this world is," The Jackal looked up at Eggman the cruel smirk pulling his lips back exposing the tips of his sharp teeth. "We'll do it, Doctor. Let's change this world together!"

"Boss, there's no way that we can agree to this!" Kaito protested the betrayal was palpable in his voice. "What if he subjects us to the Roboticization process?"

At their second in command's protest, the rest of the jackals raised their voices in one final effort to sway their leader away from a potentially a deadly deal.

"Listen to Kaito, Zerinn!" the female cried out in fear, struggling to her feet, ignoring the nearest robot pressing the end of its turret to her head which she ignored. "You can't trust Eggman!"

"Nephthys is right," A third jackal chimed in adjusting his red bandana scowling at Eggman. "Saber and I agree that you're an idiot."

"Silence all of you!" the leader pivoted on his heel pointing his sword at them effectively causing the rest of the squad to fall silent. "I said that we're going to help this man change the world aren't you all sick of being cruelly treated by this petty world?"

The question hung in the air tinged with the hint of a challenge in their leader's voice. The other nine jackals fell silent seeing their leader turning back to face Eggman the small wide smirk never left his face. They knew Zerinn wasn't going to be swayed no matter what they said.

Eggman lowered the Egg Mobile to the ground, climbing out of the vehicle seeing the leader set his sword blade first into the ground. Eggman snapped his fingers prompting the robots to release the Jackal Squad who stood up in a sullen circle their ears were down against their heads.

"Now then, what is your name?" Eggman asked, holding a hand out for Zerinn to shake. "I can't keep calling you jackal, now can I?"

"It's, Zerinn Doctor, and soon everyone will know my name," Zerinn replied. _Zerinn_ Eggman thought to himself turning the name over his mind. _An unusual name for an interesting ally_.

* * *

Disclaimer _I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of its characters. Everything is copyrighted to Sega/Sonic Team._

 _A/N I know that it's a bit late for a Sonic Forces rewrite to come out as in four months after the game was released. I will say this I liked Sonic Forces and in my opinion, it honestly doesn't deserve the hate that it receives. Unlike Rise of Lyric and 06, it was playable._

 _The main reason as to why I'm jumping on the Forces rewrite bandwagon is because I feel that it didn't reach its full potential as a game. The plot was wasted potential in some areas. Especially with Sonic's torture and Infinite himself. I do plan to expand on Sonic's torture, making Tails less of a wimp and just giving everyone a chance to shine._

 _I know that the first chapter is similar to the last of the Sonic Forces prequel comics that were used to promote the game. While I will admit I while I did like the issue a lot Infinite needed a better motivation, then I'm just bored, so I decided to have him hate the world seeing it as petty and cruel._ _For those wondering why Zerinn is the name I've gone with for Pre Infinite is because I combined both Zero and Finn for him._

 _The Avatar feature I liked in the game, and I will admit that while the Avatar story is one of my favorite parts of the game it does suffer from the friendship solves everything problem. There are several times that this fic is going to diverge slightly from canon. One of these things will be the connection that the Avatar and Infinite have with each other and with a few other things which I won't be saying anything about yet._

 _I have no hatred towards Classic Sonic since I adore Mania, but he's not going to be playing a role here. For those of wondering how the Phantom Ruby got to Modern Sonic's dimension is becuase the events of Sonic Mania still played out the same, except for Classic Sonic wasn't dragged through the portal leading to Modern Sonic's dimension._

 _Well, that's all for now, suggestions, opinions, and reviews are appreciated, and I will be back with the next chapter soon._


	2. Waves of Chaos

_Author's note. Well, then I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised by the support and interest that this story has received in a short time. Thank you all so much for the people who have faved and followed this story._

 _Onto the reviews._

 _bajy Thank you so much, and there is more on the way._

 _Spider Dom321 Thank you, and I'm glad to know that you liked Eggman and Zerinn's first interaction with each other._

 _Bluie the Jackal Thanks man and I do plan to expand on Sonic's torture since it was a missed opportunity. Even though I know it was a line Pontac and Graff added the line in to make the game darker, for the English dub._

 _The GameNguyener Thank you. Expanding the backstory was one of my goals for this fic._ _I'm also well aware Tails was traumatized by seeing Sonic getting defeated by Infinite and his replicas, but there are plans to make Tails more competent in the story, along with expanding on the reunion between Sonic and Tails._

* * *

There had been nothing in the skies, but clouds of thick black smoke were blotting out the sun preventing any of the life-giving rays from reaching the ruined landscape beneath the thick clouds. Down below there was a vast desolate wasteland; buildings lay decimated with several Egg pawns patrolling along the streets their turrets raised. It wasn't just the Egg Pawns walking through the small grey colored robots patrolled the streets their red visors scanning the area looking to pick off survivors.

Life for the Mobians was hard; every day was a hard struggle to survive through the day quietly. Mobians ran around looking for any rapidly dwindling sources of water and food. Tattered clothing clung to the women's slender frames; their eyes were sunken deep bags under their eyes due to lack of sleep. The thick smog clouding the air made it hard to tell day apart from night anymore.

The ground shook causing the few Mobians on the street to look up in fear hastily beating a retreat as the vast grey, and black Death Egg Sentinels stomped through the streets. The Mobians raced towards the ruined buildings for several Egg Pawns had seen them raising their turrets firing off several rounds of bullets striking their targets which found their mark, who slumped dead to the ground.

Torn pictures hung onto the walls portraying a fat man with a sinister grin on his face, with banners proudly proclaiming to come and join the Eggman Empire!

Eggman himself was long dead. Before the mad scientist's death, a little over a hundred years ago, but his legacy remained. Factories inhabited every continent pumping out robots one after the other. These robots had one function capture any Mobian that was unlucky enough to cross their paths and bring them to a factory to be converted into a robot.

The silver Egg pawns had a much different function that had been programmed into them by Eggman before his death. To hunt down and kill any Mobians that would even dare to make any attempt to fight back against him.

Most of Mobius' organic life was nearly extinct. For the very tiny group of survivors, no one noticed the ivory hedgehog floating above the city his face looking down at the devastation below him. Silver descended towards the ground coming to a landing, dashing the nearest building to duck behind it for cover.

Silver peered around the corner of the ruined building his left hand resting on the side of the rough brick walls. He glanced from left to right warily. He looked down at the old worn document nestled in the palm of his hand. He shot a glare at the giant statue of the dictator. The monument formerly had been a pristine gold, but after spending years exposed to the elements most of the gold was gone leaving the statute an ugly eyesore to the few remaining citizens.

"The first link in the chain of events that led up to the Great calamity was the defeat of Sonic the Hedgehog." Silver let out a low agitated sigh. The document was vague on the subject. It was one of the last few documents chronicling the Calamity. Another report cited that it was the downfall of Sonic the Hedgehog which led to the Iron Emperor to successfully conquer ninety-nine percent of the world.

"This is my last chance to save the future," Silver said reaching back for the Chaos Emerald tucked away in the back of his quills. The light grey emerald resided in the palm of his hand. According to the document it had been partially destroyed, but with the words that remained, it showcased nothing, but a portrait of hopelessness and despair. "The leader of the Resistance that failed to stop the Iron Emperor was Knuckles the Echidna."

Silver exhaled feeling the weight of the Chaos Emerald in the palm of his hand. He made sure to run the events through his mind. He'd found the Chaos Emerald in a small safe which Silver hid away in one of the many ruined buildings of the city.

"I'll do what I can to prevent these events from happening and change the future." Silver thrust his right hand into the air. The surge of grey energy shot out from the Chaos Emerald. It was now, or never Silver knew he wasn't about to turn back now.

"Chaos Control!"

The bright light emitting from the Chaos Emerald nearly blinded Silver dimly hearing the sounds of a pair of Egg Pawns racing towards him before he vanished in a bright flash of light leaving no proof that the white hedgehog was even standing in this spot. The pair of Egg Pawns looked at each other briefly confused before they turned back around to resume their never-ending hunt for more Mobians to kill.

* * *

Park Avenue Nighttime

Park Avenue was known as the nightclub central of Mobius where the nightclubs and the bars were open as the residents took the chance to rest and unwind from their busy work to relax and have some fun. No one noticed the bright flash of light that lit up the night sky as Silver emerged from the portal taking in the sights of the busy town.

" _No way Chaos Control worked!_ Silver thought a bubble of excitement slowly built up in him gazing around in wonder at the bustling city below his feet. It was so different from the future he'd just come from the sky was clear, there were no traces of smog anywhere, the people looked happy, and life was everywhere. Silver stared around slowly floating to the ground gazing in wonder at the small plots of land with so many different types of flowers.

The whole place was just beautiful Silver walked amongst a large crowd of various Mobians some of them shot him curious looks regarding the two large back quills that traveled down his back. The hedgehog took in the sights marveling just how different it was from the ruined future he'd recently departed. The view of the beautiful town just wanted to make the Hedgehog weep, but he shook his head from side to side in resolve. First things first he had to find Knuckles he couldn't afford to get distracted.

Silver politely made his way from out of the crowd making sure to duck into a small alleyway. Angel Island was rumored to be well hidden for its guardian was less than friendly towards intruders.

Silver carefully unfurled the small document making sure not to tear it. "Angel Island is a floating island that's said to be home to the Master Emerald the controller who serves to unify the chaos."

A floating island, well, then that should be easy to find. Silver sped off into the distance no one not even noticing the ivory hedgehog shooting through the sky on a mission.

The pale moon shone in the night sky hanging over Angel Island; the scenery was quiet, the only sounds were the crickets chirping a quiet nightly chorus. Knuckles rested near the altar of the Master Emerald the small smile on his face the gentle breeze playing with his Island was peaceful at night the thin grey clouds slowly floating past the pale surface of the moon the stars were out the soft deep green glow of the giant green emerald behind him illuminating the night sky.

"It's been a while since I've been dragged into one of Sonic's latest adventures." The echidna said to himself looking up at the moon's position in the sky. He stifled the yawn making its way out of his mouth, no he wasn't going to fall asleep the last time he'd fallen asleep it was when Eggman had freed Chaos on a night much like this one.

Knuckles knew that Angel Island was near impossible to reach since it was always floating on the move making it hard for any thieves to pinpoint the floating island's location accurately. The echidna was so focused on the Master Emerald that he didn't even notice the Eggmobile come flying through the night skies using the cloud cover to sneak even closer to the Angel Island to avoid being seen to soon and spoiling the ambush.

It had been two weeks ever since he'd found the Phantom Ruby and had recruited the Jackal Squad. He'd been busy building setting up a new line of robots, and he'd been busy working on a new line of robots known only as Project Sentinel. The Jackal Squad had been ordered to guard his new facility with their lives. Orbot and Cubot had also been ordered to remain behind to supervise the robot production lines.

Metal Sonic turned towards him uttering a low series of beeps communicating something. Eggman turned to Metal Sonic waving a hand at the robotic hedgehog ignoring his concerns.

"I know Metal Sonic. I've been studying the Phantom Ruby and have already begun to make prototypes of it," Eggman said looking down at the small case where the Phantom Ruby resided. "Besides the Master Emerald will provide more than enough power for my army."

There had been a nagging doubt on the echidna's mind someone was observing him. He stood up to stand next to the Master Emerald resting a hand on the cold surface. He could make out the faint outline of Chaos the God of Destruction watching him from within the Master Emerald those piercing blank green eyes just staring at him with no form of emotion whatsoever.

Knuckles paused when a shadow fell overhead he immediately turned around raising his fists to come face to face with Eggman with a sinister smile on his face.

"Oh, look at this the little guardian of the Master Emerald all on his own." Eggman sneered the smile widening. "I'll be more than happy to take the Master Emerald of your hands."

Knuckles raised his fists taking a defensive stance between the Master Emerald and Eggman. He failed to notice several shadows jumping off the Egg Mobile landing onto the ground in silence what he didn't fail to see was a familiar robotic hedgehog landing not to far off from them Metal Sonic's red optics glowing in the darkness.

"Oh, look at this the little guardian of the Master Emerald all on his own." Eggman sneered the smile widening. "I'll be more than happy to take the Master Emerald of your hands."

Knuckles bristled clenching his fists even tighter glaring at Eggman his teeth bared in a snarl.

"Over my dead body!"

Eggman looked nonplussed folding his arms across his broad chest. "That can be arranged, you gullible idiot."

The echidnas charged forward only for Metal Sonic to suddenly spring forward seizing the echidna's wrist in a tight grip beginning to tighten his grip on the echidna's wrist. A sharp searing pain erupted from Knuckle's left wrist he could hear the bones starting to crack from the strain he yanked his fist free lunging out with a punch successfully landing a blow onto Metal Sonic forcing the robotic hedgehog to release his grip.

Knuckles broke away panting flexing his wrist making sure nothing was broken. He heard the low rush of Metal Sonic's jet engines charging up; the robot came barrelling Metal Sonic's sharp claws sinking into his flesh seeing small clumps of dirt being tossed up by the robotic hedgehog's attack.

Metal Sonic was a fearsome opponent. Knuckles knew that he wasn't fast like Sonic was the robotic hedgehog had a single purpose eradicating Sonic once and for all. The guardian had a bad feeling that this was one fight that he wasn't going to win, but Knuckles wasn't going to lose the Master Emerald to Eggman ever again.

Metal Sonic took a step forward watching Knuckles judging his every move. Knuckles wasn't afraid of Metal Sonic. He broke into a run hoping to land a blow on Metal Sonic only for the robotic hedgehog to block his every move. Dodging another blow, he could make out a small crane descending from the bottom of the Egg Mobile the clamp securing around the top of the giant emerald plucking it with ease of the shrine.

 _No! if Eggman secures the Master Emerald then Angel Island will fall into the ocean!"_ Knuckles thought to summon up the last of his strength making another attempt to land another blow onto Metal Sonic only to narrowly miss then a heavyweight came crashing into him knocking him own to the ground.

What he felt next was the cold metal of Metal Sonic's fingers that were beginning to wrap around his throat the sharp metallic fingers digging into his windpipe forcing Knuckles down onto the ground.

Knuckles couldn't breathe his heart fluttered weakly; a strange noise filled his ears. His vision was already going blurry hearing a plop onto the ground. He felt Metal's digits loosen slightly as some wet was approaching him, the small droplets of water dripping along the ground. He weakly opened his eyes, and his heart skipped several beats.

Chaos was standing there it was impossible. Chaos had been calmed down by Super Sonic and resealed away in the Master Emerald. Chaos tilted his head ever so slightly before raising an arm to deal the finishing blow.

Before Knuckles could fully close his eyes, he felt Metal Sonic's claws were loosening as something ripped the metallic hedgehog away and Knuckles exhaled deeply feeling the rush of oxygen entering his lungs he sat up gasping for breath rubbing at his throat looking up to see a cyan glow surrounding Metal Sonic. A white hedgehog he'd never seen before was floating in mid-air a cyan glow surrounding Metal Sonic his teeth gritted in determination. With a wave of his hand, the ivory hedgehog flung Metal Sonic into the Egg Mobile's surface jolting Eggman off to the side.

The Master Emerald slipped out of the crane. Eggman was cursing at his change of fortune. Where had this hedgehog he'd never seen before appear as the cyan glow wrapping around the massive gem

Silver strained against the weight of the large emerald in the palm of his hands feeling the small trickles of sweat ran down his fur. He couldn't hold it for long. He'd already traveled all the way from Park Avenue to Angel Island. His limbs ached with exhaustion, and his muscles screamed in protest.

Chaos turned his glare onto Silver as Knuckles came running up l to Chaos landing a blow only for his fist to pass through Chaos' body earning a whack of pure hard water slamming into his face knocking him to the ground. Knuckles let out a low growl seeing Metal Sonic come racing towards him.

A sudden tremor traveled all over the island, then without warning Angel Island plummeted the speed of the island racing down towards the ocean. Eggman felt a twinge of irritation. His plan to steal the Master Emerald

Silver had lunged to attack Chaos as the God of destruction just vanished in a shower of red cubes. 'Eggman growled. "Metal Sonic fall back!" We'll come back for the Master Emerald when they're dead!"

Metal Sonic shot them one last poisonous look before he activated his jet engine the blades whirring he ascended into the skies taking of alongside his master.

Knuckles felt the rapid wind screaming in his ears. The guardian awkwardly hurried over to where Silver was straining to hold the Master Emerald. Knuckles staggered to his feet running to the top of the altar getting ready to restore the emerald to its rightful place on top of the shrine.

"We have to get it back onto the Altar now!"

Silver summoned up the last of his strength the Master Emerald wrapping int a cyan glow lifting the massive gem into the air pushing it towards the Echinda, Silver took a couple of more steps lowering the Master Emerald to where Knuckles was standing. Knuckles felt the smooth surface of the emerald pressed into the palms of his hands setting the Emerald back into its place on the altar.

Immediately the island stopped its plunge, and it slowly began to rise into the skies leaving both Knuckles and Silver panting in relief that a potential crisis was prevented for now. Silver felt his heart starting to return to a slow, steady, beat. He placed his hands on his knees bent over panting for breath from exhaustion. He'd succeeded in preventing Knuckles' death he should feel nothing, but relief. That wasn't the case when he caught his breath looking up to see Knuckles looking suspiciously at him.

"Who are you and what are you doing here on this island?" Knuckles asked. Truth be told the echidna had many questions on his mind. Chaos had seemed real, but he'd vanished. He turned his head slightly to look back at the green surface of the gem seeing the faint outline of the God of Destruction still contained within the giant emerald.

 _Wait a second wasn't I fighting Chaos a moment ago? That hit he landed it felt real, but he's back in the Master Emerald. What the heck's going on?_

"Look I don't know who you are and what you're doing on my island," Knuckles said looking slightly angry. "You have ten seconds to explain what's going on or I'll chase you of Angel Island myself."

"Trust me I can explain everything." Silver replied finally having caught his breath." My name is Silver the hedgehog, and I come with a warning from the future from over two hundred years in the future that is a dying wasteland one where Eggman's robots roam killing everyone they can find."

The look of anger Knuckles' face slowly began to fade away. "Wait so what does this have to do with Sonic?"

It was Silver's turn to look away. "I don't know, but the records said that after Sonic was defeated, a Resistance group was formed to combat Eggman, but they failed." Silver said pacing back and forth.

"Wait someone formed a Resistance group?" Knuckles asked. "Well if they need a base it can't be here." Knuckles said firmly.

This future hedgehog had to be lying, but a small knot of dread formed in Knuckles' stomach. Sonic wasn't exactly known for being careful, he was reckless sure, but he was his rival. Still, Knuckles couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible would occur in the distant future.

"If this is a trick..." Knuckles said taking a step forward raising a fist at Silver who looked panicked. "I can't run the risk of endangering both Angel Island and the Master Emerald exposed to every single thief on Mobius!" Knuckles exclaimed feeling the surge of anger channeling through his body. "Angel Island is not a tourist destination!"

"I'm not lying!" Silver cried out in panic. "Please, this Resistance is the only chance that Mobius has!"

 _I can't leave Angel Island only to have Eggman come and take the Master Emerald. On the other hand, if this Silver's not lying and if whatever this thing is that leads up to Sonic getting beaten, then I must leave Angel Island, but I'm doing this on my terms._ Knuckles let his thoughts running through his mind.

"Alright then Silver If what your saying is true, and I'll join this resistance, but I'll be the one leading it, and I'll be moving the Master Emerald to the Hidden Palace Zone, tomorrow and then we'll head off to stop whatever defeats Sonic." Knuckles warned Silver slowly turning on his heel walking away from Silver who looked relieved. Knuckles led Silver away from the altar of the giant emerald to the place where he usually slept within the Mushroom Hill Zone.

The two of them made their way to Mushroom Hill as Silver lay stretched out on a pile of soft moss and leaves. Knuckles was already fast asleep his sides rose and fell in even breaths. The stars were beginning to fade out as the pre-dawn skies started to lighten the sky. Silver tried to sleep, but he still felt a foreboding feeling that even though Knuckles had agreed to lead the Resistance, it still wasn't going to be enough to save Sonic.

Judging by the wounds that'd been inflicted on the echidna it was clear that he would need time to recover from his battle with Metal Sonic.

 _I'm still going to try. I will save the future no matter what._ Silver thought to himself. Lying awake listening to the pre-dawn Flicky chorus Silver slowly beginning to drift into an uneasy sleep. His sides rose and fell in an even pattern the glow of the white Chaos Emerald resting in the palm of his hand.

* * *

Author's _note. Well then this chapter came out longer then I'd expected. While Knuckles and Silver's interactions in Stress test were pretty good, I felt that there should've been a little more hostility on Knuckles' part, especially it should've been the first meeting between these two. It was still a fun chapter to write._

 _I liked the fact that Silver was in Forces and I'm happy with the role he got, but there should've been more focus on him. We could've gotten a glimpse of the future where he'd come from, and there are going to be a few changes from the game's plot, but I'm not spoiling them._

 _In the next chapter, we catch up with Team Dark in the first part of Episode Shadow._

 _Suggestions/ opinions and reviews will_ always _be welcome, and I will chat with you guys again with the next chapter._


	3. I'm not Weak

_Author's note. Here we go, lads and ladies, the next chapter. Just as a heads up, things are going to get violent in this chapter._

* * *

The moon rose high over the Mystic Jungle illuminating the normally pitch black jungle creating a tranquil atmosphere. However, the usually tranquil atmosphere was broken by the sound of robotic feet crashing through the jungle undergrowth pursuing a black and red blur racing just ahead of the robots who pointed their turrets firing off several rounds of bullets at Shadow the Hedgehog.

The hedgehog suddenly spun around turning to face his pursuers. His crimson eyes narrowed at the sight of the pursuing robots. He withdrew the Green Chaos Emerald from its resting place in his spines feeling the weight of the gem in his hand.

"Chaos Spear!"

Several yellow bolts of lighting came racing through the air, slicing through the robots sending them crashing down to the ground as Shadow raced on ahead. The wind whipping through his quills the small smirk was on his face. It had been the third group of robots Shadow had encountered. He kept on running, turning his head briefly to look up at the pitch-black night sky the few stars shining in the inky darkness.

He'd never told this to anyone, but he knew that Maria would've loved this planet. With the vast variety of plant life everywhere he recalled with both sadness and bitterness that Maria would spend hours on the ARK leafing through botany books with Shadow at her side. In his younger years, he would show interest in the different types of flowers and how they would discuss opening up a garden planting their flowers from all corners of Mobius for everyone to admire once Maria had been cured of her disease.

The cynical hedgehog breathed out through his nose, shaking his head from side to side. Now wasn't the time to be focusing on what if scenarios he had to focus on the here and now.

"Hmph, it appears that the doctor's robots get flimsier and flimsier over time," Shadow said returning the Chaos Emerald in his quills. "He must be using a cheaper material this time."

Shadow was continuing to run on ahead, blazing a trail through the dense foliage leaping up onto a small wall that overlooked a pair of giant waterslides that looked like they were leading to another location in the jungle.

The metallic humming caught Shadow's attention ducking behind several bushes, seeing the small swarm of Buzz Bombers passing by overhead. Shadow waited to make sure that the Buzz Bombers were gone before he raced on ahead. He jumped down from the wall onto the small waterslide grimacing with irritation the cold, water sloshing up against his fur. It was a relief when he came to the end of the waterslide he sped on ahead coming to a stop on a cliff overlooking a small lab where he spied three jackals patrolling the area.

There were more robots than usual as they seemed to patrol around at several large objects covered with a large white sheet. It sent a chill of unease through Shadows being. For the doctor be building such massive weapons, it could only mean that Eggman was preparing for a large-scale assault.

Many robots are patrolling one area, and now there are mercenaries? Shadow narrowed his eyes. The hedgehog flipped open his communicator staying out of sight. He took a closer look at the three Jackals. One of the jackals had several scars on his face who appeared to be the leader. He pointed his katana at something barking orders at another jackal who flattened her ears in submission.

"Rouge are you there? It appears that our Intel was right," Shadow said. "It's clear that the Doctor is working on a new weapon. His security is tight."

"It is an insult that I wasn't assigned to this mission!" Omega's robotic voice crackled over the communicator through a bit of static. "If we delay our mission, the probability of Eggman becoming aware of our presence will increase!"

"Hush Omega!" Rouge's irritated voice joined in the conversation silencing the robot's voice. "This is a stealth mission, and you just can't alert Eggman to our presence!"

Shadow suddenly had a bad feeling that he was spotted for he saw all three jackals whip their heads around having heard Omega's voice the expressions on their faces shifted from irritation to flat out hostility, they broke into a run their weapons at the ready for a fight.

"Rouge I'll check in with you," Shadow slowly removed the Chaos Emerald from its resting place between his quills. "It looks like I've been found out."

Shadow cut of Rouge's response. The three jackals come racing towards him the leader raised his katana. Shadow ran forward muttering Chaos spear the bolts of yellow chaos energy erupted from the palm of his hand striking the throats of the jackals slicing through sinew and veins sending crimson gushes of blood into the air.

Shadow continued ahead not looking back remaining focused on his mission. He was dimly aware of the sounds of three lifeless bodies hitting the ground.

* * *

Meanwhile, the other members of the Jackal Squad sat in a clearing with Kaito pacing back and forth looking ahead into the brush. It had been two weeks since they'd unwillingly agreed to join up with Eggman, the pay was good. It was nice to have a solid roof over their heads, and knowing where their next meal was coming from was a bonus, but something had changed about Zerinn. Their once stern, no-nonsense leader, had become distant from them. Zerinn wasn't one for closeness or sharing feelings, but lately, he seemed to be keeping more to himself refusing to eat with others. He also appeared to be for lack of a better term obsessed with the Phantom Ruby.

"Does anybody know where the heck Zerinn is?" Kaito heard Saber ask. Kaito kept a hand pressed to the communicator nestled in his left ear.

"He's probably of again smooching that weird gemstone." Quartz quipped sarcastically, leaning back against the tree he was resting against his ears were down in irritation. Nephthys Flint and Ace were pacing back and forth, keeping an eye out for danger.

"Yeah, well, I tried to speak to him by telling him I think that this is a bad idea, but he didn't listen to me!" Quartz huffed digging his claws into his skin. "I think he cares more about that gemstone then us."

"We're getting paid good money Quartz," Flint said in a bored tone of voice fingering the small dagger between two fingers. "Besides, I think that Zerinn will come to his senses sooner or later."

"We can still make some money off that Eggman tech," Ace said, looking over at Quartz a sinister grin on his face. "Let's just grab that tech and make a run for it!"

"I'm with Ace," Quartz chimed in standing up flattening his ears. "We were living just fine before our leader jumped off the slippery slope."

A low growl erupted from Kaito's throat. He hurried over to the taller jackal whipping his flamberge out, letting the cold steel rest ever so slightly against Quartz's neck. The older jackal grew tense holding his hands up in a peaceful gesture. Kaito was skilled with his weapon for one false move and Quartz knew he would be dead.

"Are you suggesting treason Quartz?" Kaito said, his tone threatening. "I'm the second in command and if you run I will tell Zerinn and we will hunt you down."

Quartz looked over at Ace as the rest of the Jackal Squad was watching the unfolding drama eager to see what Quartz's response would be. It was clear that the jackal fidgeted with his red bandana nervously. He had a rivalry with Zerinn he wasn't going to deny that. Before this whole mess with the deal with Eggman, he would willingly follow Zerinn and the rest of the Jackal Squad to the ends of Mobius, but this deal with Eggman it just didn't feel right.

"No, I wasn't." Quartz replied sulkily folding his ears back in a gesture of defeat. The blade slowly was removed from his jugular vein. Kaito took several steps away from Quartz. An unreadable expression on his face was trying to gauge whether or not Quartz was lying.

"Tch you only got to be sec-" Whatever Hela was about to say was cut off by the impatient voice of Doctor Eggman.

"Shadow is racing towards the facility as we speak, and he's already taken out three members of your squad!" Eggman's angry voice screamed through Kaito's earpiece causing the jackal to flinch from the loud burst of noise and static coming from his ear. He looked around gauging at how much Eggman's words left an impact on the other jackals who lowered their heads in grief at the news.

"We'll take care of him." Kaito snarled grabbing the flamberge. He gazed around looking for Zerinn again. His older half-brother had always been the reliable one. He was the leader, he'd looked up to ever since he was a pup and now it looked like Zerinn wasn't coming, so it fell to Kaito to take command of the Jackal Squad.

 _I can't do this I'm not ready._ The little voice whispered in Kaito's mind. I'm ready this is what Zerinn trained me to do. Kaito inhaled his chest rose with the movement, letting out a loud howl which was a call for help hoping that Zerinn would hear it. He cut his call short a fierce determination in his eyes.

"All right, Jackal Squad go in for the kill!" Kaito yelled. "Show that monster no mercy!"

At Kaito's command, the remaining members of the Jackal Squad raced away into the foliage. They were determined to hunt down the Ultimate Lifeform to avenge their squadmates.

* * *

 _I'm not alone._

Shadow skidded to a stop; his senses were on high alert since he noticed a pair of eyes were watching his every movement. With a war cry, Hela erupted from the bush a small black dagger in her hands she was heading straight for Shadow. Shadow lunged out, grabbing her by the wrist. Without a moment's hesitation, he threw her against a tree hearing the sickening crunch Hela's skull made against the tree seeing her lifeless body fall to the ground.

Two more jackals came running towards him Nephthys clutched a small dagger in the palm of her hand. Shadow ran to meet her head on feeling the end of the dagger slice across his arm, for he yanked it out of her hands and in one clean motion sliced it across her shoulder blades prompting her to yowl in pain.

The delay was all Shadow needed for he thrust the blade into her chest, causing her to gasp out the blood staining her deep green top. She slumped forward onto her side the blood pouring out in a small trickle.

"Nephthys!" Saber cried out hefting the tomahawk of his left shoulder running ahead towards the Ultimate Lifeform. Shadow simply swept a low kick, knocking Saber's legs out from underneath him. Shadow grabbed the weapon making a clean slash across Saber's throat the jackal slumping over still.

He felt a sharp stabbing pain in his shoulder. He scowled in irritation reaching over to his right shoulder, yanking out the small kunai embedded in it. He spied Quartz getting ready to throw several more Kunai. Shadow flung the Kunai aimed right at the jackal's chest hitting its target. The jackal lets out a gasp of pain, collapsing to the ground sinking to his knees a small trickle of blood streaming through the fur on his chest.

"You monster."

"This was a fight that you couldn't win."

Shadow grabbed the kunai from the jackal's fingers. He silently plunged into Quartz's heart seeing the jackal's eyes widen briefly then slowly close. The sounds of footsteps running across the grass caught Shadow's attention. He frowned seeing two more jackals racing towards him. Aggressive looks were on their faces; their weapons were drawn, ready to shed Shadow's blood.

"Hmph, if they're that eager to die then so be it."

Shadow ran towards the last two members of the Jackal Squad. It appeared that more blood was about to be spilled tonight.

Zerinn watched the Phantom Ruby floating in the blue liquid. He heard the footsteps of Eggman who was in the next room, pacing in an irritated manner muttering something underneath his breath. He pressed a hand against the cold glass surface of the tube; his expression was indifferent. This gem had the key to make him make the desolate wasteland become a reality. It was the one that he wanted the most. The doctor had suggested an experiment about fusing the Phantom Ruby to an organic being.

T _o have that much power maybe I can make that desolate world a reality._ The jackals' thoughts were interrupted when Zerinn heard an alarm blaring. He heard a frustrated groan coming from Eggman's direction. Orbot and Cubot hovered both of the robots were silent their optics glued to the screen in horror.

"Oh for Chaos' sake! I get the best mercenaries around, and Shadow wrecks them!"

Eggman's words struck a chord of fear in Zerinn's heart. He looked up at the monitors, his heart in his mouth. His eyes widened seeing Shadow using Chaos Spear on three of his squadmates.

"No, no no." Zerinn broke into a run, grabbing his short sword, his swift feet carried him into the night. He hurried through the clearing, his breath coming out in short, sharp gasps, his stride was long and even and he came to the clearing he skidded to a stop his breath hitched in his throat. There lay before him were three very dead jackals.

"No! Blade! Roscoe! Iris!" Zerinn raced over to them. He knew straight away that all three of them were dead. He bit back the sob hurrying on his teeth clenched in a snarl. The moon illuminated his way, for he continued to run through the dark forest. Zerinn arrived at the second clearing and what he saw at the sight of all six of his fellow squadmates were dead caused a pit to open up in his stomach. He walked numbly through the bloodstained grass eyes scanning the area for any traces of life from any member of his squad.

Your fault. If only you hadn't gone for the Phantom Ruby, they would all still be alive. Zerinn felt a pit of dread forming in his stomach. No, please not Kaito too. He prayed that his younger half-brother had the sense to run away. He doubted it, but he held onto a faint hope that Kaito would be unhurt.

"B-bro."

A weak voice cut through the air. Zerinn turned to see Kaito lying on his stomach with multiple deep lacerations on his body. His black fur was bloodstained giving off the illusion that it was a deep red. Zerinn felt his fingers slacking dropping his sword. Zerinn hurried over to Kaito bending down at Kaito side. He remembered with a stab of guilt when they were pups bullies used to pick on Kaito for the fun of it and leave him lying and broken crying in the street.

"Kaito, what the hell happened to the rest of the Squad?" Zerinn said gently cupped Kaito's head in his hands. "Who is the sick bastard that dared to injure my little brother like this?"

"It was this..." Kaito coughed up a small goblet of blood. "Black and red hedgehog and we let you down. We're so-" Kaito closed his eyes, he went limp in Zerinn's arms. Zerinn felt the last traces of warmth leaving Kaito's body for his half-brother became so still in death.

"No! Kaito! Don't quit on me now!" Zerinn cried in anguish sitting with Kaito holding his younger half-brother close to him. "Please, you have to stay strong! Please."

Zerinn whispered the last words feeling the sting of tears slipping down on his face. He would grieve later for the loss of his squad and his half-brother. They were the only ones that cared for him along a former friend of his, and now this cruel world had taken those away from him as well.

* * *

Zerinn raced through the Mystic Jungle his heart filled with anger. "Your squad was so damn useless!" Eggman's voice crackled through the earpiece. Zerinn ignored Eggman's voice jumping from one pillar to the next pillar. "Go and clean up their mess already!"

Zerinn landed on the last pillar as his eyes fixated on Shadow who was speaking into a communicator. "I'll rip him from piece to piece."

Zerinn glowered. He would show this hedgehog the reason why he was known as the Ultimate Mercenary. "You destroyed my squad and taken away the only family I've ever had," Zerinn set his blade down onto the pillar. "Now prepare to suffer at the hands of the Mercenary whose feared by many!"

With his proclamation, Zerinn jumped off the pillar his lips pulled back into a snarl preparing to land a blow onto Shadow only for the Hedgehog to vanish in blue light. Zerinn landed on the ground a look of confusion appearing on the jackals' face. His fur bristled the murderer had been here just seconds ago.

Zerinn's confusion didn't last long feeling the hard sole of Shadow's shoe slamming into his face catapulting him up into the air. He felt the wind rushing past his ears as he felt a double blow strike him in the stomach. He briefly glimpsed the face of his squad's murderer before he slammed hard into the ground.

The next thing he felt was searing heat strike his right side of his face the next kick catapulting him into a rock wall once more landing on the hard ground leaving him breathless. Pain it hurt so much. He placed a hand on his face, feeling the slight trickle of blood leaking down from the corner of his eye moaning in pain.

"That was pathetic just like your squad," Shadow said. "Hide that unsightly face as a consequence of wasting my time." Zerinn dimly heard the murdering hedgehog speak before he vanished in a flash of blue light.

Zerinn lay there trembling, his breaths coming out in short gasps. He looked down and noticed that his hands were shaking. "No am I afraid? No, I can't be, I'm not weak."

Zerinn forced himself to his feet slowly wincing from his aching body that just wanted to rest. "I'm not weak; I'm not weak I'M NOT WEAK!" At the end of his sentence, Zerinn let out a last unearthly scream into the night. It was a sound of pure rage and pain coming from someone who has lost everything. It was also the sound of someone's fragile sanity finally snapping, giving way into insanity.

Eggman simply scowled at the bruised jackal limping painfully into the room. He had his sword resting across his shoulder blades. His steps were shaky and uneven the faint tear streaks on his cheeks hinting that the jackal had been off crying somewhere. The right side of the jackal's face had a new burn scar that started from his lower right jaw creeping up to the top of his head and several smaller cuts that had been sliced by hedgehog spines.

Eggman ran a critical eye over the jackal who looked up at him. Zerinn looked down at his hands that were still shaking. Shadow was a brutal opponent. Out of the whole of the Jackal Squad, their leader was the only survivor. Perhaps there was a chance that he would be able to survive being fused with the strongest of the Phantom Ruby prototypes.

"Your Squad was useless when they went up against Shadow, although," Eggman saw the jackal glance over to the tube at the Phantom Ruby. "I believe that you might be able to survive the experiment."

"Do it, Doctor, I want to cast away my old self and to become someone new," Zerinn replied hoarsely. "Zerinn was finite. I want to become Infinite, and I will never be weak ever again."

He walked up to the tube containing the Phantom Ruby. Zerinn rested a hand on the cold surface of the container. Zerinn could almost taste the power that the Phantom Ruby would offer him. He'd just lost every member of his family. The jackal felt his heart grow cold inside him. He ignored the pain of his new injuries running his hand down the surface of the glass tube.

 _I won't rest until I see this cruel world burn into ashes_. Zerinn vowed to himself.

Eggman smiled. "It'll be much pain and if you're willing to prove that you're not weak," Eggman smiled seeing the jackal baring his teeth ever so slightly."Then follow me Infinite."

Zerinn set his sword down in a corner. He wouldn't need it in the future. He fell in behind Eggman for he was moments away from obtaining the power that would genuinely make him Infinite and once he did no one was ever going to call him weak ever again.

* * *

 _Author's note. Well, this chapter was a tough one to write. Mostly because of just how little information we have on the Jackal Squad as a whole. The only tidbit of information we got on them was from the comics, and we don't have any idea of what their personalities are like so I dove into headcanon territory._

 _I also have to give a shout out to SpiderDom321, Cobalt Rouge, Alexandria Prime and Bajy for reviewing. Thank you guys so much._

 _Kaito is related to Zerinn due to being his younger half-brother, and he is the second in command to Zerinn. He doesn't take kindly to traitors. For if Quartz and Hela did run away from the Jackal Squad then they would've been hunted down and killed. They may be a family unit, but they're still mercenaries._

 _There are a lot of folks out there who don't like Infinite's backstory. If I had, to be honest, I'm one of those people who have mixed feelings on it. , but it needed a little more fleshing out. It was such a missed opportunity to have Infinite discover the dead bodies of the Jackal Squad in the main game since it takes away most of the emotional impact since it gave me the opportunity to show Infinite's reaction to his dead squadmates along with the emotional breakdown after being defeated by Shadow's hands._

 _Yes G.U.N is going to be in this story. One of the things that bugged me the most about Forces was the disappearance of G.U.N. It's implied that Team Dark operates without supervision, I'm still going to have G.U.N in here. They are a real military force, and they are going to play a small role in the story._

 _Next chapter we get into part two of Episode Shadow. We're almost finished with the prologue, and then we're going to be moving onto the main game._

 _Also for Broken Friendship. Guys, I'm sorry, but I've lost the steam for it._

 _Lastly, Thoughts/Opinions and Reviews will always be welcomed and appreciated. I'll be back with the next chapter soon._


	4. Looming illusions

_Author's notes Before we get started I would like to give a big thank you bajy, Alexandria Prime, SpiderDom 321 and The GameNyegamer, for leaving reviews on this story. Your support means a lot to me._

 _Well then let's no longer have any more delays. Let's dive into Chapter Four. All I'm going to say this will be the last prologue chapter before things move onto the main event._

 _Disclaimer I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. The sole thing I'll take credit for is this rewrite._

* * *

Zerinn followed Eggman down the long hallway leading to a small room as Eggman made his way towards a long metallic table that stood propped upright in the center of the room. The jackal glanced around the room, taking in the pristine condition of the room. Zerinn focused his attention on the table in the middle of the makeshift operating theatre with several instruments set on a smaller table not too far away from the operating table.

"So, this is where I can shed my old weak self?" Zerinn asked.

"Yes, well in your state, there is a fifty-fifty chance that you'll perish from the surgery," Eggman replied. "There's also the risk that something will most likely go wrong with bonding with the Phantom Ruby. At the very least I would advise you to wait until your injuries heal."

"I'm still going to go through with it," Zerinn replied, staring down at his still trembling hands. "If I survive the procedure Doctor, I want a mask to hide away this unsightly face."

Zerinn's request caught Eggman by surprise. The jackal glared at him the small trails of blood slowly trickling down his face and body. There wasn't just a look of greed in the jackal's eyes anymore. With the drying blood clinging to his body and the slight grin on his face Zerinn looked almost insane. The insane expression on his ally's face set off warning bells in the mad scientist's brain.

"Fine, if you do survive the operation. I will carry out your request."

Zerinn climbed onto the table lying flat on his back, ignoring a stab of pain coming from the fresh scar on his face. Eggman reached out for the oxygen mask, placing it over Zerinn's mouth and nose. The effects of the gas kicked in causing Zerinn to drift into a deep slumber slowly. Eggman worked through the night cutting part of the jackal's sternum away, his pristine white gloves saturated with blood. As dawn's first rays filtered in through the window, Eggman inserted the finalized prototype of the Phantom Ruby firmly into Zerinn's chest.

"The operation was a success, at least," Eggman muttered wiping at his brow. "If my newest weapon survives, not even Sonic will be able to be able to stand up to the power of the Phantom Ruby."

Eggman bent down unhooking the mask away from Zerinn's face. He'd cleaned out Zerinn's injuries, checking them for infection. With a grunt, he carefully lifted the jackal from the table. Eggman carried him through the small corridor leading into a small room. Orbot was busy pulling back the blanket on a small bed. Eggman approached the bed carefully lowering Zerinn on the bed making sure to keep Zerinn's head propped up against the pillows.

Once he was sure that Infinite was comfortable, he pulled out the jackal's left arm. Eggman parted the ebony fur slipping the needle into a vein in Zerinn's wrist. Once Eggman was sure his ally was comfortable he turned his attention towards an IV tube, along with a heart monitor keeping track of Zerinn's vitals. Eggman was optimistic Zerinn would recover from the effects of the operation.

"Well he lived at least," Eggman said with indifference. "I hate to admit it, but I'll have to create a mask for him."

Eggman left the room knowing that Zerinn would awaken within a couple of hours a little tired, but reborn as Infinite. Eggman gleefully rubbed his hands his mind wandering back to the real Phantom Ruby still contained within its container.

Eggman headed down to the hallway, stopping in a small room to sit down in the chair at his desk grabbing a large piece of gray metal. An hour later Eggman created a gray mask resting on the surface of the metallic table. It had a single sheet of red glass on the left side and the black lightning shaped mark on the right side of it. Eggman picked up his new creation running a critical eye over it frowning before he set it down again satisfied with his work.

"It'll have to do. Besides, that jackal must have some serious self-esteem issues if Zerinn believes he needs wants to hide his face away."

Eggman carried the mask back to where the jackal lay on the small bed, his chest rose and fell evenly, in a deep slumber. The expression on his face was tense; his eyelids furiously twitched in his sleep. Zerinn's fingers gently traced the edges of the Phantom Ruby in his sleep.

"That jackal is no longer finite," Eggman grinned. "He is now Infinite."

Several hours later after the operation, Zerinn's eyes slowly flickered open. The anesthetic was slowly wearing off. His head felt heavy, his limbs felt like lead, but he felt his hope building when his ears twitched hearing a faint humming sound. He looked down at his chest seeing the magenta gem embedded into his chest the purplish red waves of energy pulsing across his abdomen.

Zerinn slowly pushed back the blanket walking over to the small desk, ignoring his trembling limbs, walking over to the small table where the mask rested. He placed a hand on top of the smooth metal.

"With this power, I will be reborn," Zerinn said. "Soon, this whole accursed world will no longer, be boring. I will remake the world in my image."

Zerinn reached out feeling the weight of the mask heavy in his hands, and he pushed it onto his face feeling it fit over his face. Zerinn looked out through the small red sheet of glass on the left side of his face. The jackal tapped the Phantom Ruby with the tips of his claws, feeling the gem come to life. He swung his arms outwards the wave of red energy rushed through the room.

Underneath his mask Zerinn, no Infinite grinned at the surge of power chuckling, eying the red crimson sword propped up in the corner of the room. He wouldn't need it now, not when he had the ultimate power at his fingertips. The sword was a reminder of the pathetic weak Mobian he used to be.

"Zerinn is no more," Infinite cackled his voice distorted with the voice modulator in his mask. "Zerinn was too weak, to be able to withstand the cruelty of the world I have been reborn, and I am now Infinite!"

Infinite paused to survey the damage he'd inflicted on the room. Deep scorch marks lined the walls, several of the canisters lay shattered spilling blue liquid all over on the floor. Infinite waded through the liquid not caring if his boots got wet. Infinite darkly chuckled stroking the Phantom Ruby on his chest, excitement at this new source of strength having been handed over to him so quickly.

Shadow raced through the deserts bordering Green Hill Zone. He felt the searing heat on his back, looking out over at the giant silver pyramid in the middle of the desert. It wasn't the most sensible place to hide an Eggman Base in Shadow's opinion, but he saw hordes of robots exiting and entering the base carrying several smaller weapons.

He spied several G.U.N trucks moving into the facility. Several soldiers were getting out of the vehicles already running across the sands their weapons pointing at the pyramid their expressions on their faces ranged from eager to neutral waiting to land a hit on any of Eggman's forces that would come their way.

The footprints embedded in the sand were noticeable around the base of the pyramid. The sight of the giant robot tracks set Shadow's spines on edge. If Eggman was building robots that were this big, it was clear this time he was serious about his newest plan. There were more robots than ever; he also spied several Buzz Bombers that were carrying weapons between them the metallic hum of their wings filled the air. Shadow tracked their movements with his eyes, before lifting his wrist speaking into the communicator.

"Rouge I've spotted several Buzz Bombers patrolling the area," Shadow replied. "It looks the rumors that Eggman was in the process of creating some new weapons were true. I'll be heading into the base shortly to investigate it."

Shadow's ears twitched hearing a series of loud explosions rocked the pyramid with several small clouds of thick black smoke leaking out of small holes in the sides of the pyramid. Through the crackling static from the communicator, Shadow could make out the sound of Omega dispatching Eggman's robots followed by a heavy robotic voice.

"I am commencing the mission! I will eradicate all of Eggman's robots!"

"Omega this is a stealth mission with all the racket you're making Eggman will know we're here!" Shadow heard Rouge's irritated voice over his end of the communicator. "We never should've left the stealth part to Omega," Shadow replied. "He can be a real pain sometimes."

"Just get in there and make sure that Omegas hasn't destroyed too much of the evidence," Shadow nodded activating his skates running down the sandy hill. Heading into the entrance way of the pyramid, allowing a small smirk to grace his face."That is if Omega hasn't already alerted Eggman to our presence."

Omega's heavy footsteps echoed off the barely lit hallways; he destroyed several robots that were standing in his way. Omega was so caught up in his rampage he failed to notice the sounds of a pair of black and silver boots clanking of the metallic surface. He heard a deep chuckle that went on for far too long prompting the robot to turn around pointing his arm cannons at the entrance the metallic black and silver boots clanking off the metal floor.

"Ah, so the world's strongest robot graces me with his presence." A deep voice that sounded distorted like there was a voice modular echoed of the vast chamber. In the darkness, a single yellow eye gleamed.

The figure took two steps his long black bushy tail trailing behind him. He was a canine of some sort; he wore black and silver boots black leather gloves and a silver mask that covered his entire face except for his ears. The striking thing about him was the strange gem that appeared embedded in his chest. Omega kept his weapons trained on the mysteriously masked jackal who rose slowly into the air cloaked in a red aura looking down at Omega in silence.

"Rouge, Shadow are you there?" Omega queried. "I've encountered an unknown enemy. Sensors are detecting an unknown energy signature. I'll engage the unknown enemy."

"I suppose that you'll do as the first test subject for my new power."

The figure gestured to the ruby on his chest. In a heartbeat, a wave of red energy washed out over the area a swarm of red cubes materialized as if from nowhere being sent in Omega's direction overwhelming the robot before he even had a chance to react. Omega staggered to the ground, quickly recovering from the unwanted assault unleashing a barrage of bullets. Much to the robot's dismay, Infinite avoided the hail of attacks. Forming several smaller magenta swords in his hands throwing them at Omega, striking him, the tips of the swords slicing through Omega's metallic shell causing gushes of oil to leak from severed wiring and damaged casing. Infinite silently observed Omega was sinking onto one knee.

Shadow paused, glancing back at the five downed sentries, the sparks leaking out from their circuits. The thick black oil glistening it almost looked like blood. An unbidden memory in the darkest corners of Shadows' mind recalled the bodies of the Jackal Squad lying ever so still blood leaking out from multiple lacerations. Shadow shook his head wanting to forget the memory of the jackals dying from their injuries. For now, Shadow's focus was on finding Omega before the robot reduced Eggman's lair to nothing more than a strewn pile of rubble. Maybe their leader died alongside them.

Shadow silently followed Omega's path of destruction. Judging by the scorch marks the robot's weapons had left that and broken robot parts scattered everywhere.

"Casualty report, Rouge has been killed in action. Shadow is on a rampage. Also, I'm picking up partial damage to partial lobes."

"Omega! Omega respond! What's happening in there?"

Nothing, but static came through the transmitter. Unnerved Shadow heard the panic in Rouge's tone as he skated ahead even faster towards the source of the unusual noise echoing off the walls of the pyramid.

"Omega what the hell's going on in there?" Shadow got his answer, dodging a stream of red cubes be sent his way when he stumbled into a large vacant room as what he saw made Shadow seethe on the inside. Omega was damaged sparks were leaping out of his joints deep scar marks were all over his metal frame.

"I am E123- Omega! I am the strongest robot! Emergency withdrawal not by-"

The figure suddenly flew towards Omega driving a foot hard into the center of the robot's hard chest, sending the robot into the air crashing through the roof of the pyramid. All Shadow could do was watch in horror as Omega was sent flying into the air.

The robot had deep marks in his hull one of his arms had been severed. The robot looked damaged, but still intact judging from the brief glimpse he'd gotten of Omega flung away into the air heading toward either Westopolis or Sunset Heights.

"Shadow what's going on? Omega's transmission just cut off."

"He's badly damaged, but send our troops to recover him wherever he lands," Shadow said, seeing the masked figure turn around his single visible eye fixating on him."It appears I've found Eggman's new weapon."

"Shadow, please be careful."

"I will try once I get answers out of this masked monster." Shadow cut off the communications turning to face the masked canine, glaring at him.

"Ah, the short, not so Ultimate life form has finally arrived," The masked figure said waving a hand dismissively. "Look at that the world's strongest robot was just as inferior as Crabmeat." The masked canine laughed for a long time. The sound alone was enough to set Shadow's spines on edge; the laughter sounded cold, malicious and empty of emotion.

Oh, great Eggman's weapon is a masked lunatic. Shadow ruminated briefly taking the chance to glare at Eggman's new weapon clenching his fists preparing for the fight ahead. The masked jackal tuned to Face Shadow, folding his arms across his chest.

"Oh yes, this power is amazing, even after I've fine-tuned it!" The figure turned his head towards Shadow. "It is the ultimate strength!"

"What kind of power are you talking about?" Shadow asked in response. His eyes fixated on the ruby embedded into the canine's chest the gem pulsed with purple energy. Shadow took a closer look at the canine noticing for the first time thick tail and the ribcage pattern that was on the jackal's sides.

"That is none of your concern," The jackal said. "Come now Shadow our reunion is at hand and yet you're wasting our time with frivolous topics."

Shadow snapped out of his ruminations glaring at the jackal. The masked jackal hovered there observing Shadow. Racing down the corridor Shadow saw sparks flying off a destroyed robot lying somewhere just outside the entrance to the hallway.

"Who are you? Also, what did you do to Omega?"

"You may call me Infinite," Infinite titled his head ever so slightly regarding Shadow with a look akin to disdain. "You may not remember me, but it was just over a month ago when you attacked my squad, injured me and told me to hide away my face."

Shadow felt the pit of unease growing in the pit of his stomach, his mind flashing back to the time glaring down at the beaten leader of the Jackal Squad who lay there trembling at his feet. Shadow clenched his fists seeing the figure's eyes dart towards his fist tensing for a battle. Shadow had been sure the beaten mercenary who lay trembling at his feet.

"I assumed that you would've died from your injuries," Shadow replied snapping out of his ruminations reaching back for the Chaos Emerald hidden away in his quills. "You were pathetically weak."

Infinite laughed again. The sound sent chills down Shadow's back. "The old me died from his injuries. On that day I cast away my disgusting face, and I let go of the old me so I could become stronger by obtaining the power to make all yield to my will."

Shadow slowly raised the Chaos Emerald high up into the air. The Ultimate Lifeform knew he shouldn't have left the jackal alive. If only he'd gone back to end Infinitre's life He should've just killed the jackal when he had the chance. "Ch-"

Shadow saw the wave of red cubes come racing towards him the strange ringing filled his ears the sound reverberated all over his skull, forcing the black and red Hedgehog to his knees pressing his hands to his ears. He closed his eyes in a futile effort to ward off the attack.

A wave of magenta energy followed by a high pitched ringing slammed into Shadow causing the hedgehog to sink to his knees grimacing at the pain, his gaze fixated on the hovering jackal watching him coldly before he fell into unconsciousness.

Darkness and Shadow could feel a headache beginning to form, pounding away at his skull as the ringing slowly died away. Shadow opened his eyes the sight that lay before him made his jaw drop.

The large gray space that stretched out before him seemed to be familiar like he'd been here before. Shadow took several cautious steps unsure of his surroundings gazing around warily, expecting Infinite to reappear at any moment to launch another attack on him. The Ultimate Lifeform walked around cautiously his senses on high alert for any traces of Infinite lurking in the shadows.

"How did I get here?" Shadow queried aloud. "Is anyone here?"

This place was the Ark fifty years ago as he spied scientists and guards walking through the corridors. Shadow shook his head from side to side taking in the bizarre sight. Shadow froze in his tracks spying a young girl who was standing at the window her long blond hair traveled down her back, her light blue dress clung to her slender frame. Her sky-blue eyes fixed on the vast expanse of space in front of her.

"Maria!" Shadow hurried up to where his best friend was standing. How could what he was seeing was possible? Maria was dead; she'd died fifty years ago, he remembered with broken hopelessness unable to do a thing to prevent her death. He remembered the bitter sting of tears forming in his eyes at the grief he felt watching his best friend die at the hands of G.U.N.

"Please Shadow give them a chance to be happy."

With the memory of her final words, lingering in his mind, Shadow noticed that Maria folded her arms across her chest and she wasn't making eye contact with him.

"Maria?" Shadow asked with a sinking feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. "Are you all right?"

Maria's shoulders were shaking the small stream of tears were leaking out from underneath her eyelids. "How could you Shadow? How could you kill them?" Maria turned to face Shadow her eyes were red from crying.

"Those jackals they had lives they were bad people. I'm sure that they had families who loved them somewhere," Maria hiccupped lifting a hand to wipe away her tears. "Grandfather created you to help people not kill them!"

Shadow recoiled at her words, his eyes wide with shock. "No Maria It-"

"Grandfather never should've infused you with that Alien's blood," Maria said with pain in her voice turning into anger aimed at Shadow. "You are nothing, but a monster!"

The image of the Ark appeared to be distorting, and Maria vanished to be replaced by Green Hill Zone as Shadow looked around in confusion the ARK was there, and now it was gone.

Wait, I was on the Ark, and now I'm in the Green Hill Zone? Shadow gazed around the area a look of confusion on his face. No something bizarre was going on. His brain was struggling to piece together the puzzle in his mind.

"I am not weak. "I am not weak."

Shadow turned around on his heel hearing the unnerving chant his eyes widened at the sight of the nine jackals covered in multiple lacerations that were slowly beginning to form a circle around him. Shadow reached back for the Chaos Emerald nestled in his quills only to find that it wasn't there. No, he'd always kept that Chaos Emerald when it wasn't in use. That concerned him profoundly and it puts him at a disadvantage against the group of jackals some of them had smirks on their faces at his predicament.

"Well, look at this without your powers."

Shadow heard one of the jackals speak before he felt a stabbing pain open up in his arm three more of the jackals lunged forward, heading in for the kill Shadow let out a grunt of pain as one of the jackals plunged her dagger right into his shoulder. He attempted to grab the jackal with the beret, but he ducked out of the way as the one with a pair of kunai between his fingers smirked.

"Now then, let's see just how weak you are without your powers."

Shadow felt two more of the jackals grab his arms struggling to throw them off only for two more of them to grabbing his legs throwing him onto his back. The jackal with the kunai grinned sinisterly plunging the blade deep into his heart. Shadow sat up gasping feeling the sharp stabbing pain spreading in his chest, kicking out at the jackals that held him down, and they broke apart into red cubes.

"Honestly Shadow you're hopeless," Shadow turned to see Rouge looking over at him with a look of disdain on her face. "Omega has been for destroyed three months now, and you didn't even care to look for him."

Three months? Shadow's confusion was mounting.

"I am E123 Omega!" Shadow's ears twitched to see Omega slowly walks forward his steps uneven. "I have never known defeat!" I am not weak! I am not weak!" I am not weak!"

Shadow sank to his knees the chorus of I'm not weak growing even louder. Maria, the rest of the Jackal Squad, Rouge and Omega were all saying it now their voices getting louder with every time they said, and Shadows' headache was getting worse. He just wanted it to be over.

With a sudden gasp, Shadow saw everything around him vanish, and he was back in the bunker his eyes wide with fear, his breathing was rapid a thin sheet of sweat glistened on his fur. Infinite watching his every move his arms crossed over his chest. The silence hung between them as Shadow clenched his fists in anger.

"Oh yes, this power's even more ultimate than I thought it was," The jackal laughed again. "Not even Sonic can stop me now!"

"You sick bastard. I don't know what the hell you did with her, but you had no damn right to use her like that!" Shadow snarled his anger beginning to surface. What does this have to do with Sonic?

The crimson blood sliced down his lip for he stumbled to his feet raising a hand to wipe away the blood. He turned to glare at the jackal who hovered in place looking at him smugly.

"Come on, let's see if you can even land a hit on me."

Shadow ignored his pounding headache, his face twisted into a sneer at the jackal's invitation. He grabbed the Chaos Emerald from its place among his quills. He wanted to make the jackal pay for using Maria's memory like it was part of his sick game.

"Chaos Spear!"

Infinite smirked cloning himself hovering out of reach of Shadow's assault. The Chaos Spears was making contact with a replica dissipating in a small shower of red cubes. Shadow grimaced. He was still trying to get over what he'd just experienced from those strange illusions of Maria, the jackals Shadow had killed, to Omega declaring he wasn't weak repeatedly.

Shadow ran up to Infinite trying to land a punch or a kick only for Infinite to block everyone. Infinite knew the hedgehog was getting tired; he'd seen it so many times in his career as a mercenary it wouldn't be long now before he would land the final killing blow on his target.

Shadow charged for Infinite again. The jackal was fast lashing out at Shadow sinking his claws into his arm, kicking him into the air followed by a red blast of energy. His body screaming in pain Shadow landed hard feeling his legs scream out in pain from the hard landing. Infinite smirked observing Shadow fighting to get to his feet, the distinct sheen of sweat standing against his fur.

Shadow's sides were breathing in and out quickly. The Ultimate Lifeform felt the first stages of exhaustion overtaking him, and he felt the jackal deliver another kick to his chest knocking him into the wall. Shadow made contact with the cold ground again; Shadow was already sinking into unconsciousness, hearing the distant buzz of his Comm unit.

"Shadow what's going-" Rouge didn't finish her sentence. Infinite stomped hard on the comm unit grinding it under his heel making his way towards Shadow. The last thing that Shadow saw before he passed out was Infinite standing right next to him. The last thing he felt was a pair of hands grasping him roughly by his quills being slammed into the ground his teeth biting his tongue; Shadow finally fell into unconsciousness.

Eggman entered the room, surveying the damage a small smile graced his face upon seeing Infinite holding the unconscious Shadow. Shadow may have been his grandfather's pride and joy, but seeing him slung like a sack of meat across Infinite's shoulder was almost a little saddening. Infinite had done well in the rematch against Shadow.

Not only that he'd lived through the surgery that Eggman was sure would claim the jackal's life the second he first bonded the finalized Phantom Ruby prototype with Infinite. He remembered seeing the jackal lying spread out on the bed a patch of his fur had been shaved away to make room for the prototype. How weak and frail the jackal looked with the ruby embedded in his chest fast in a deep sleep still recovering from the surgery.

"So then I take it you've avenged your squad then?" Eggman asked. "Everything is ready to go."

"My squad mate's deaths don't matter anymore," Infinite replied, looking at the hedgehog disdainfully. He reached up to trace his scarf with two of his fingers, almost like the jackal was deep in thought about something. "Let us delay no further. Let's begin to change the world."

"The best course of action for Shadow is to send him to the Death Egg," Eggman said bending down to remove the Chaos Emerald from Shadow's quills. "I think that he would be a good illusion construct for my army."

"I cannot allow that Doctor," Infinite protested. "I'm quite displeased that you would even suggest

"Well, if you're going to have a problem Infinite, perhaps, Metal Sonic will make a better host for the Phantom Ruby?" Eggman questioned Infinite softly,

"No, I do not have anything to complain about," Infinite replied sullenly. "Seeing one of Sonic's strongest allies on your side will strike fear into their hearts."

Eggman and Infinite left the room in silence, taking their first steps to carry out their plan to conquer Mobius. Eggman looked over at Infinite who walked behind him still carrying Shadow. It was true that the jackal had proven himself capable of using the finalized Phantom Ruby prototype, but if he were going to be this disobedient, well maybe Eggman would have to take measures to keep him in line.

Infinite nudged the hedgehog ever so slightly. The Jackal looked back at the unconscious hedgehog his face emotionless behind the mask. He'd been able to defeat the Ultimate Lifeform. Infinite felt nothing, but self-satisfaction at his accomplishment.

"Hmph, I guess you're no longer the Ultimate Lifeform," Infinite muttered underneath his breath. "You told me never to show my pathetic face ever again."

For the time being Infinite would go along with Eggman's plan for now, but once he'd copied the data of Shadow to create a perfect illusion of his squad's murderer, Infinite would have to find a way to eliminate Shadow himself. Infinite trembled with barely suppressed fury. He'd lied to Eggman by claiming his squad didn't matter to him anymore, and the truth was that Infinite felt a gaping hole in his heart for the loss of his squadmates.

"Keep moving Infinite!" Eggman called back to his ally. "Mobius isn't going to conquer itself!"

Infinite said nothing resuming his trek noticing Eggman stopped glaring at him before he continued walking muttering something low underneath his breath. A tense atmosphere hung in the air between them. Eggman risked a glance over his shoulder looking back at Infinite. Eggman couldn't shake the nagging feeling that infusing the Phantom Ruby with Infinite would turn out to be a potentially fatal mistake.

* * *

 _Author's Note. This was a fun chapter to write. Now then this is going to be the last that we're going to see of Shadow for a while and one of the things that needed more expansion on was the power of the Phantom Ruby and its mind-altering powers. It was a fun challenge for me to expand on it since I theorize that the Phantom Ruby also targets a person's deepest fears._

 _The scene with Maria was more of a last minute thing since it's a shame that any mention of Maria and Gerald have been pretty much ignored by SEGA since they along with G.U.N are a crucial part of Shadow's past._

 _With that, this is the last prologue chapter, and in the next chapter we move onto the main game, and things are going to kick off with Sonic's downfall._

 _Lastly, suggestions for improvement, thoughts, and reviews are always welcome. I will talk to you guys soon when the next chapter arrives._


	5. Fall of the Blue Blur

_Authors note. Thank you for the favs, and the follows and just to the people who have left a review on this story thank you all so much for the support, since it motivates me to keep going with this rewrite. Here is chapter five and as a warning, things in this chapter are going to get violent._

 _Disclaimer I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog._

* * *

A gentle morning breeze flowed through Mushroom Hill Zone causing Silver to awaken from another uneasy slumber. The telekinetic Hedgehog looked over to the empty moss pile. Silver shook his head mentally kicking himself at the thought Knuckles would even fall asleep in the vicinity next to a complete stranger. Silver activated his powers taking to the air hovering above Angel Island.

"I still can't believe it's been two weeks ever since I arrived here to stop the Iron Emperor," Silver said to himself looking in awe at the wide blue skies with white clouds drifting through the sky. "It's so peaceful here, but still if Sonic is defeated, then this peaceful present will come to an end."

A flash of red fur sticking out against the green foliage making his way over to the empty altar where the Master Emerald once resided. jolted Silver out his thoughts noticing Angel Island floating in the air. True to his word Knuckles had moved the Master Emerald away from the altar to a new location, one he refused to reveal to Silver. The telekinetic was thankful Knuckles hadn't chased him of Angel Island.

Silver came to a landing on the smooth grass letting out an irritated sigh removing the small old weathered document tucked away in his quills. He'd read it over and over again to the point of obsession much to Knuckles frustration for the echidna had waved off saying that if it wasn't going to provide any more information than it was worthless to Silver. It had been written by one of Silver's ancestors over a hundred years ago.

"It was said in the past a legendary hero known only as Sonic fought many battles against a tyrant only known as the Iron Emperor in a never-ending battle for the planet," Silver red aloud. "However, legend has it the Iron Emperor discovered a new type of weapon, one that overpowered Sonic leading to his defeat. A gemstone of unspeakable power. Many of our documents were lost to the war following Sonic's defeat which led to his execution at the hands of his greatest enemy."

"Not only that what if more of those robots show up again?"

Silver said to himself spying a few rusted out robot parts resting on the grass. He recalled seeing several large orange and yellow ships had come dangerously close to Angel Island releasing a wave of the small Egg pawns and every attempt to recover Master Emerald only for the robots to be destroyed by both Knuckles and Silver.

Knuckles let out a low yawn slowly walking across the grass towards where Silver stood. The hedgehog once more scanning the document he restlessly had in his hands. Over the course of the past month Knuckles reluctantly began to trust the telekinetic hedgehog, especially after he'd helped him repel the robots who'd attempted to steal the giant emerald, but he was still wary around him.

"It's a good thing that I never showed Silver where I've hidden the Master Emerald," Knuckles said. "Silver did save my life when we first met, but for now I don't trust him. I can't run the risk of him stealing the Master Emerald when my guard down."

For now even though he hated the idea of putting his trust in Silver in order to prevent this unknown calamity from occurring was his best option, and hopefully, then he would be able to resume his duty of protecting the giant green emerald hidden away from the world in the depths of the Hidden Palace Zone.

"So then are we ready to go?"

"Ready when you are," Silver replied earnestly. "We'll have to warn Sonic that something bad will befall this present soon."

Knuckles merely grunted in response taking a running leap into the air stretching both his arms and legs out the wind caught under his dreadlocks keeping the echidna in a steady position for gliding as he was riding the wind currents descending towards the ground. Silver followed Knuckles he would avert his gaze to look around at the vast green plains that were spread out before him the trees that dotted the landscape, the blue skies with the occasional white clouds that drifted lazily across the sky.

Several hours later into their flight across Mobius' landscapes both Knuckles and Silver traveled for several miles. It was fascinating that Knuckles relied on a strong wind current to maintain his gliding position. Silver had never seen such a variety of landscapes before the dense foliage of a tropical rainforest, then a coastline, vast desert plains and now he spied a small town which Knuckles informed him that it was Park Avenue.

This present was so beautiful and to think that life once flourished across Mobius. He looked down at his and Knuckles' shadows traveling above the ground, the echidna ahead of him was silent. Now that Silver thought about it, Knuckles tended to keep to himself.

"So where are we heading?"

"The most likely place where we can find Sonic is Green Hill Zone," Knuckles answered Silver's question almost impatiently. "Green Hill Zone is one of Sonic's favorite places."

Silver nodded taking in this new information. Suddenly a large shadow fell over both him and Knuckles. He saw the echidna turn his head noticing that the vast shadow was encompassing them both. Silver couldn't shake the feeling of unease creeping down his spine looking up at the massive ship that was slowly passing overhead.

"It's one of Eggman's ships," Knuckles said frowning. "I hate to admit it, but we'll have a better chance of not being spotted if we head into the bushes."

Both Knuckles and Silver landed on the grassy soil. Knuckles roughly grabbed Silver by the wrist dragging him behind him shoving him underneath some bushes which provided cover. The two of them gazed up at the giant deep orange ship lazily coursing through the skies with Eggman flying ahead of the ship and what looked like a black and white robot flying on his left and Metal Sonic was flying on his right.

"Get down," Knuckles hissed into Silver's ear. A tread of robotic feet as Silver's heart sank. A long line of silver robots was stomping along a dirt path. Their red visors trained on the small town that was ahead of them. "This has to be Eggman's largest army I've ever seen."

 _They're the same robots that patrolled the future._ Silver fought to keep himself from trembling. He recalled with horror that it was these same robots that had killed his parents. He was just a small hedgehog when he'd witnessed his parents being gunned down right in front of him. Silver felt the unbidden tears beginning to leak from behind his eyes at the memory.

"Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not," Silver fought back a fierce sob. "It's just that those robots killed my parents. I'm an orphan. I don't think you'll ever understand what' that's like."

Silver saw an unreadable expression creep over Knuckles' face. The guardian tightened his grip on the grass beneath him, beginning to tremble all over. Silver was surprised. He'd never expected to see Knuckles tense up before he heard a deep sigh escaping the echidna's mouth.

"In a way, I can relate what it's like to lose your parents," The guardian replied. "However, for now, we need to take out the robots at the back. Let's reduce Eggman's new army in numbers."

The guardian leaped out of the bushes attacking several of the robots before Silver could stop him from attacking the robots. Silver bit down on his lip not caring that he could taste the metallic tang of blood. He saw several of the Egg pawns stop in mid-stride some of them pointing their guns at him as from the corner of his eye he spied Knuckles launching several punches at the Egg pawns breaking them apart.

 _No! We're going to be slowed down, but if we fight back, then it should even the odds._ The thought made Silver uneasy at the delay, but he raised his hand the cyan lines lit up along his golden bracelets he grabbed several robots with his psychokinesis slamming them together. Moving out of the way before the shower of metallic parts descended on him joining Knuckles in the fray taking out more robots who'd noticed the struggle going on behind them.

Orbot froze looking at the small monitor that popped up on the screen in front of them. "Uh boss excuse me, but it appears that we have a couple of attackers attacking the robots at the very back of your army."

"Oh, please let them take out a few robots," Eggman said in an uncaring tone. "It doesn't matter if they survived my bid to seize the Master Emerald. They have no idea what's about to happen."

"Doctor, allow me to dispose of them," Infinite said from Eggman's left. "I defeated the Ultimate Lifeform, and I'm sure that a couple of insects will be wiped out."

"No, I need to have the Phantom Ruby at full power. Besides, we're about to change the world," Eggman replied with a hungry tone to his voice."Didn't you join me to change this dull boring world Infinite?"

Infinite fell silent staying close to Eggman fighting to keep himself from attacking the pair of intruders. Eggman was willing to sacrifice the robots at the back of the army. It would buy him more time, and he glanced back at the ship carrying the secret weapons that he would soon unleash upon all of Mobius. Eggman also had Infinite at his side, and soon Sonic would be subjected to the power of his new weapon.

* * *

Green Hill Zone was one of the most beautiful zones in all of Mobius, the clear pristine deep blue water. The vast open plains. The Flickies tweeting in the distance adding their chorus to an ordinarily silent landscape. A flash of blue broke the silence as Sonic the Hedgehog tore through the loops at a supersonic jog.

"It's another great day, and I have to wonder how Tails' doing patrolling Park Avenue for Eggman's robots," Sonic said to himself. He kept on running through the fields until he ran all the way up to the top of one of Green Hill's tallest peaks. The view was beautiful from the top of the cliff, and he could make out Park Avenue. The hedgehog spied a large orange and yellow ship that was drifting lazily towards Park Avenue.

That better not be one of Eggman' ships. Come to think of it Eggman's been pretty quiet since the whole Lost Hex incident. Sonic mused pausing to rub his chin ever so slightly the hedgehog's train of thought was cut off by the beeping that came from the communicator attached to his wrist.

"Tails wh-"

"Sonic! It's horrible! Eggman's launched an attack on Park Avenue!" Several dull booms sounded in the background, and Sonic, looked up spying Park Avenue in the distance hearing a dull explosion a thick cloud of black smoke leaking off into the sky. The sight of the black smoke set Sonic's spines on edge.

"Hang in there a little longer, Tails I'll be there soon," Sonic replied. "Don't do anything too reckless."

The blue hedgehog turned around running the way he came mowing down any Egg pawns in his path a shower of robot parts scattering all over the place. Eggman was on the move, and with more robots than usual and even though Sonic wouldn't admit it the sight of this many robots worried him. The blue hedgehog put on a burst of speed heading in the direction of Park Avenue.

* * *

The sound of crackling flames from the resulting explosions was one of the many noises in the area. Thick clouds of thick black smoke poured into the sky as Tails racing towards several Egg pawns that were running towards him their energy bullets struck the ground sending up a few fragments of debris. The young fox ascended into the sky before diving using his tails to slice through the robots landing on his feet.

"Help!"

Tails twirled his two tails together dodging a lunge from Metal Sonic the robotic hedgehog skidded across the ground. The robotic hedgehog's optics zeroed in a female light blue maned wolf with a light grey jacket, black shirt and red trousers with tan gloves and shoes. A bright purple mane graced the space between her ears. Her grey eyes, stared up in horror as Metal Sonic came racing towards her.

"Hold on!" Tails slammed into Metal Sonic's side forcing the hedgehog away from her as he landed on the ground between the maned wolf and the citizens glaring down Metal Sonic and with the last few Egg pawns striding menacingly towards the citizens. Suddenly a familiar blue blur came tearing through the air as Sonic plowed through each of the robots landing feet first on Metal Sonic's head leaping off with a kick sending his metallic counterpart sprawling to the ground. The crowd broke into cheers at the sight of Sonic landing on the ground.

"Whew, that was a bit of a close one there," Sonic said seeing the look of relief that appeared on Tails' face. "We need to get these citizens out of here before Eggman gets here," Sonic said a frown crossing his face surveying the destruction his fist clenched ever so slightly. "Man he did a lot of damage this time."

"Well, then it's a little too late for that Sonic." A familiar Egg Mobile floated down with Eggman at the controls his arms folded across his chest. The small smile was on his face. The smile seemed odd; It wasn't his usual cocky smile, it was more along the lines that it was an I have already won smile on his face.

"Well right on cue Eggy," Sonic said bending down slowly beginning to stretch out his legs. "So then you've saved me the trouble of hunting you down."

"If you're feeling lucky Sonic, then please come and land a free hit and defeat me already."

Sonic broke into a run preparing to leap up at the Egg mobile only something to collide with him knocking him down. Sonic hit the ground hard, and he prepared to snark back as he felt a wave of shock hit him. Shadow stood there leveling one of his famous death glares at him his arms were folded across his chest the small frown on his face.

"No way Shadow?" Sonic couldn't hide his shock before he felt a slight twinge of anger. Shadow his rival was siding with Eggman. It didn't make sense and judging from the confused muttering coming from the crowd added to the growing sense of unease. Shadow said nothing choosing to glare in silence. Metal Sonic landed on the ground next to Shadow staring at Sonic, flexing his claws impatiently.

A red being with a pair of black horns jutting from his forehead jumped of the building landing right next to Shadow. "Zavok?" Sonic exclaimed in shock upon seeing the Zeti standing there seemingly alive and well. In their last encounter, Sonic recalled seeing Zavok plunge to his death in the Lava Mountain Zone on Lost Hex.

The sound of a manhole cover scraped loudly across the cobblestones caused Sonic to turn his head slightly noticing a manhole cover scraping across the cobblestones. A puddle of blue liquid pushed the manhole cover away swiftly forming into a humanoid figure with bright green eyes staring blankly at Sonic. The Blue Blur tensed recognizing Chaos the God of Destruction, glaring silently back at him.

"Sonic behind you!"

Tails' shout alerted Sonic to the black figure slowly descended from the sky his arms folded across his chest. A red aura surrounded the figure occasionally flickering fading away the second the masked figure's feet touched the cobblestones, silently observing Sonic.

"So, then Eggman that's your new toy? A fox in a bad clown mask?"

Sonic snorted not hearing a response from Eggman or the figure breaking into a run only for the Mobian to step out of the way in a move that was too fast for even Sonic to respond seeing the figure lifting up into the sky again. Sonic nearly stumbled into disbelief, noticing the figure turning around to face him again. A blast of red energy struck the ground inches away from Sonic's feet.

"I can't believe it, that you're faster than me," Sonic said in disbelief."The only two people who can keep up with me is Metal Sonic and Shadow."

Eggman shouted a command to Zavok to seize Tails. The Zeti grinned sinisterly making a beeline for Tails who ducked and weaved lashing out with his tails hearing a slight oomph coming from the Zeti who stumbled a bit.

"You're just annoying as ever you impudent child," Zavok growled dodging another blow from Tails the young fox pivoting away from Zavok's grasp. "One day I will enjoy making you pay for what you did to my brethren along with your blue brother."

"Heh, and they call you the fastest thing alive?" Sonic turned to see the metallic mask being pointed inches away from his face before he could make a retort the jackal roundhouse kicked him into the wall, small bricks landed next to Sonic. Groaning in pain Sonic pushed up with his arms wincing from the pain, turning to face Metal Sonic 's charge raced in digging his metallic claws into Sonic's arm.

Sonic yanked his arm free allowing small trails of blood to leak down his arm. Shadow kicked him hard in the chest causing him to stumble. A wall of water surrounded Sonic's face for Chaos briefly submerged the hedgehog. Sonic closed his eyes the cold water holding him in place unable to move a small bubble of oxygen slipped from his lips before the arms were removed from Sonic dropping the hedgehog onto the ground coughing and gasping for air. Chaos resorted to landing blows on the blue hedgehog, pummeling him in rapid succession, forcing Sonic to his knees.

"Is that really the best, 'the fastest thing alive' can do?"

Sonic ignored the masked figure making another lunge for the figure feeling a hand grasp him roughly by the quills lifting him up into the air, before being dropped to the ground. Chaos, Zavok, Metal Sonic, and Shadow pursed the falling hedgehog landing rapid blows on him in succession. To the watching Mobians, a horror show unfolding before their very eyes. Eggman chuckled loudly. Orbot and Cubot watched in silence.

"How does it feel to suffer a defeat at long last Sonic?" Eggman mockingly called out. "For once I am on the verge of victory!"

The four villains broke away leaving Sonic to fall to the ground. Sonic's whole body is screaming in agony. Sonic was already sinking into unconsciousness, and his vision became heavy. He shifted his gaze searching for Tails finally spotting the kit who stood at the edge of the crowd his eyes wide in terror his brain trying to comprehend the scene.

"Tails r-run." Sonic gasped out seeing the figure land right next to him a clawed hand was reaching out to Sonic. "Get these people out of here!" Sonic called out lifting up his head mustering what little strength he had left in him before he let his head drop back down to the ground finally falling unconscious. Gasps of fear and panic came from the citizens. Eggman laughed evilly reveling in Sonic's defeat seizing the opportunity to launch into a speech clearly one he'd been preparing for some time.

"Citizens of Mobius! Your hero Sonic the Hedgehog has fallen at long last. Today will be a glorious day! The day that the Eggman Empire will build a new utopia for all of Mobius! Say hello to your new protectors the Death Egg Sentinels!"

The massive ship slowly descended to the ground. Once the ship touched down a hatch opened up revealing several giant black and grey robots marching out of the resting airship on the town square. Tails stared up in horror at the sight of the giant robots., with a single large red eye fixated in the center of their heads, the ground shook with every step that the robots took heading towards the group of citizens.

The last glimpse Tails got of Sonic was the hedgehog carted like a potato sack walking up the ramp of the ship empty of robots. Tails felt a small spark of anger burning deep within him. Without warning Tails felt a searing pain traveling down his back, Zavok's claws grazing the fur along his spine. Tails lashed out with his tails causing Zavok, ignoring the blood leaking from his back making a beeline towards Eggman's new ally.

"Give Sonic back!" Tails cried out landing several hard punches on the back of the figure. "You can't take him! Not if I have anything to say about it!"

The figure stiffened slowly turning with a hateful glare aimed at the genius. "Friends are nothing, but a fleeting illusion," The figure said his voice distorted. Tails felt unnerved being so close to Eggman's newest weapon. It was a little unsettling. "They will betray you when you least expect it."

Without warning Tails was backhanded by the masked figure causing him to fly backward until his back hit the hard cobblestones ground letting out a delayed yelp of pain. The figure resumed his walk with Zavok, Metal Sonic Chaos, and Shadow, the hatch closing behind them. The ship let out a loud humming as it slowly ascended into the sky leaving Eggman behind watching the assembled crowd of Mobians the smile on his face now genuinely sinister.

"Now then Death Egg Sentinels! Subject this town to the rule of the Eggman Empire!"

The Egg mobile shot off into the sky. The first of the robots unleashed a round of heavy fire. The first of the missiles slammed into one of the still standing houses the shower of bricks and debris caused most of the Mobians to scatter. Tails quickly got up to his feet dodging the debris. It was panic in the square the crowd of citizens broke apart their screams of fear the Death Egg Sentinels rampaging through the streets the harsh hot air filled the area from the explosions as more houses destroyed in the ensuing fire.

"Tails!" Tails turned around to see Knuckles hurrying up to him a white hedgehog that he'd never even seen before in the sky a strange cyan glow surrounded the massive robots freezing them in place. Tails found his gaze drawn to a white hedgehog floating in the sky holding the giant robots back with some kind of strange power keeping them frozen in place.

"Tails, what's going on here?" Knuckles asked Tails by placing a hand on his shoulders. The young fox's eyes wet with unshed tears gazed back at Knuckles. Tails trembled with emotion before he found the strength to speak. Tails looked up at Knuckles tears beginning to fill his eyes. Tails swallowed hard facing Knuckles.

"Eggman's captured Sonic," Tails shakily said tears coming to his eyes. "He wanted us to get the citizens out of here. I couldn't do anything to save him."

Silver heard the young kit's words feeling his stomach plummet ever so slightly. The Iron Emperor has already won. Silver thought to himself. Keeping his concentration on the robot Silver faintly heard Knuckles explaining something to Tails. The very least that Silver could do was to buy the citizens along with Tails and Knuckles enough time to escape. Easier said than done his muscles began to scream in agony from holding the massive robots in place.

"Silver! We've got to go!" Silver gritted his teeth feeling his hold lessen ever so slightly and with a gasp Silver was forced to release the robots who staggered ever so somewhat before they turned their gazes on the citizens before they resumed their attack.

"This way!" Tails saw the same light blue maned wolf he'd seen earlier leading a small group of Mobians in a small group away from the robots allowing Tails, Knuckles, and Silver to fall in joining the crowd. "

"Thanks for the save earlier," Tails turned to see the maned wolf looking at him with a small smile on her face. "My name is Sahara."

"It was no problem Sahara, but I still can't believe that Eggman has won." Tails replied as the group of Mobians fled Park Avenue heading into an unknown future and on a Mobius where Eggman had won that future now looked bleak. Knuckles Silver, and Tails led the small group away from the burning town, aware of several Egg Pawns following them. Knuckles pivoted on his heel a fierce snarl forming on his features swiftly dispatched the robots leaving them in a smoldering pile of wreckage.

Once the guardian was satisfied none of Eggman's robots were following them, he turned his attention towards Tails. The young fox sat down on an upended tree stump watching helplessly at the sight of the orange ship taking off into the sky, tears streaming down his face. Knuckles reached out placing a hand on Tails' shoulder watching the scene in silence. Sonic was gone, and both Knuckles and Tails felt his absence opening a gaping hole in their hearts.

"Knuckles, what are we going to do?"

The guardian paused unsure to answer Tails' question. Silver strode across to them with a determined expression in his face. Tails looked up startled at the sight of the white hedgehog with a slightly wary expression on his face. A few citizens grouped together closely coming forward wondering what this white

"My name is Silver," Silver said. "The answer is simple. I know it's an idea we literally just came up with, but the plan is we're going to form a Resistance to fight back against the iron grasp of the Iron Emperor. Knuckles and I will be leading the Resistance since we're not going to give up this planet without a fight."

If Silver's words were meant to reassure the crowd it had the opposite effect on them. Panicked voices broke out into the crowd. Everyone began to talk over one another the reality of Sonic's defeat came crashing down on them, erasing whatever little shreds of hope the citizens were holding onto.

"Forming a Resistance group to fight back?" A young vixen cried out. "It's impossible. If Sonic couldn't stand up to Eggman's new weapon, then what chance do we have?"

"We might as well, just surrender to Eggman now," A bear grumbled. "It's a hopeless cause. How can we fight back against Metal Sonic, that thing Eggman's got under his control and all of those other strange guys?"'

Knuckles climbed onto a cracked boulder letting out a loud whistle catching everyone's attention. A silence fell over the clearing. Everyone turned to look at Knuckles standing with Tails and Silver at his side surveying the crowd looking back at them anxiously. Knuckles hesitated. He wasn't good at making big speeches in front of people, having grown up on Angel Island alone for most of his life.

"I know, witnessing Sonic's defeat is a shock to all of you," Knuckles began his speech."However, I've fought alongside Sonic's side for a long time now alongside with Tails. We're not going to just sit back and lose our home to Eggman. That's the purpose of the Resistance, we're looking for anyone with a fighting spirit to join us. Neither age or experience matters. If we stand united then we can win this war and get our home back. That's my promise to all of you. Now whose with me?"

For several minutes silence fell over the area until a grey bird citizen came forward a determined expression on his face. The bird raised his fist into the air, with several more citizens following the gesture. Knuckles felt the tension leaving his shoulders upon seeing more citizens showing their support.

"Let's form this Resistance movement!" The bird cried out eagerly. "We'll avenge Sonic, and take our home back!"

More of the crowd joined with loud cries of encouragement showing their support for a movement seconds ago had been suggested was met with shouts of approval. Knuckles saw Silver nod in relief noticing a magenta cat and a white chameleon hurried over to Knuckles stopping inches in front of him. The cat shoved a piece of paper and a pen at Tails. Tails hastily wrote something down on the piece of paper handing it back to the cat.

"So, what are our first orders Commander?" She asked eagerly. "We're willing to do whatever it takes to aid the Resistance."

"Well, one of you can head over to Westopolis to recruit the Chaotix," Knuckles addressed the chameleon. "Tell them that the Resistance is going to be stationed at Sunset Heights. If I know the Chaotix, they'll be eager to help us reclaim our home."

The chameleon gave Knuckles a quick salute racing away from the group. Tails turned to address the cat gazing back at him eagerness shining in her eyes. Tails handed the letter over to her. Seeing her taking it accepting whatever mission would be given to her.

"Amy Rose lives in Station Square," Tails addressed the young cat. "She's probably taking Sonic's defeat the hardest, so please deliver the envelope. If she needs emotional support, promise me you'll give it to her."

"I will Tails, and I hope you stay strong too," The cat replied in a gentle tone of voice. "Sonic has saved us many times over the years. The least any one of us can do is return the favor. "We're never going to surrender our home without a fight."

Tails observed the cat sprinting away into the dense foliage. Knucklesinformedd the Resistance to begin their journey to Sunset Heights. Tails followed the crowd heading in the direction of Sunset Heights a two-hour walk from Park Avenue. Tails glanced up at the evening sky searching for the hated ship that had taken Sonic away. Tails clenched his fist in determination. He wasn't going to be afraid anymore. Someday they would rescue Sonic, and bring his adoptive brother back home. Until then Tails could only hope Sonic would be able to survive whatever Eggman had in store for him.

* * *

Westopolis Three days into Eggman's takeover of Mobius.

The TV flickered into life at the Chaotix Detective Agency a female Ocelot with an exhausted expression on her face sat at her desk. "It has been three days since Sonic the Hedgehog's defeat, and there have been no signs of Eggman's conquest slowing down." Behind the Ocelot a smaller screen showed the same footage of what had happened at Park Avenue, showing images of a defeated Sonic being taken away by a masked stranger.

"The death toll in Chaos' attack on Adabat continues to rise as more lives are lost due to the intense flooding," The ocelot let out a low sigh. "It is advised for everyone living in any major cities such as Westopolis, Station Square, and Metropolis, please take what you need, and get out of these locations while you still can."

"Charmy are you packed yet? We've gotta go!" Vector cried out hefting up a small bag. Espio stood in the doorway holding a small kunai in case anyone attempted to attack them.

"I'm here!" Charmy flew into the room holding onto a small satchel. "I saw a white chameleon in the streets, earlier, who says Knuckles is putting a Resistance together to fight back."

"I don't know, but if we run now, we'll live to fight another day." Espio replied indicating that it was safe for them to leave. He had a small bag slung over his shoulder, and Vector had a black duffel bag containing his headsets and other items. "We also need to meet up with an escort from the Resistance, since we have to reach the rendezvous point soon."

"Maybe it could be a way for us to fight back against Eggman's army." Vector cast one last look back at their office. It pained him to leave their office behind, but they had no choice. Espio was right for now they had to run away so they could live to fight another day. Vector allowed Charmy and Espio to leave first, taking in their messy office one last time. The detective couldn't shake the feeling they wouldn't be returning to their home.

"At least, we won't have to worry about paying the rent for a while," Vector grimly chuckled. "Here's hoping this building will still be standing by the time this whole mess is over."

The crocodile was the last one to leave their home, following Charmy and Espio into the streets weaving their way through the panicking citizens, all running to avoid Sonic's fate since no one wanted to suffer Sonic's fate. The Chaotix found themselves jostled by the crowds making their way towards the rendezvous point, a white chameleon stood several meters away from the fleeing civilians. A look of relief appearing on his face upon seeing the Chaotix hurrying over to him.

"I take it that you're the Chaotix?"

"That's us," Vector confirmed eying the chameleon up down. "We received Knuckles' tip so I assume you're here to take us to Sunset Heights, then. Well, let's get going before more of Eggman's robots shows up."

The chameleon silently nodded breaking into a sprint with the Chaotix following him along with a majority of the citizens fleeing for their lives. Vector risked one last glance at the Chaotix detective agency, their home and livelihood lying abandoned along with everyone else's homes, but fo,r now all the Chaotix could do was to fight in a war they most likely wouldn't return from.

* * *

Station Square A week into Eggman's takeover.

A crowd of Mobians slowly began to pour out of Station Square racing towards the trains heading towards the Mystic Ruins. Amy Rose sat on the train watching as more Mobians got on the train. Her eyes were red and puffy she'd barely slept ever since she'd heard the news that Sonic of Sonic's defeat. Amy looked around at the rest of the terrified passengers, feeling a slight jolt seeing a cat hurriedly sitting down next to her panic in her eyes.

"Excuse me miss, you wouldn't happen to be Amy Rose would you?"

"That's me, did you want me for something?"

The cat slowly pressed an envelope into the palm of her hands staring at her feet. Amy looked down at the small letter slowly undoing the envelope carefully opening it her heart skipping several beats when she recognized Tails' neat handwriting. Her heart sank at the grim reality, praying for Tails' and the rest of her friends' safety.

 _Amy_

 _By now the news that Sonic's gone is hard for you to bear. I know it's been hard for all of us, but Knuckles, Silver and I are putting together a resistance to fight back against the Eggman Empire._

 _If you want to join us, there is a Bunker stationed in Sunset Heights. The Resistance is small in number but was slowly getting more people joining us every day._

 _Please come we need you Tails._

Amy sniffled ever so slightly. She inhaled deeply fighting past the ache in her heart. When she'd first heard the news of Sonic's defeat, she had refused to believe that Sonic for the first time in his life had been defeated by Eggman. Amy spent the last couple of days mourning Sonic due to many citizens claiming Sonic had been killed in action.

"Okay, Tails you know I'll be there," Amy saw the last of the Mobians come pouring onto the train as it took off along the rails heading to Sunset Heights. "Besides, I know that Sonic's with us in spirit."

Amy looked around at the rest of the passengers. Most of them looked at her with expressions of pity in their eyes. It was no secret that Amy had a crush on Sonic since it had been a popular subject for gossip in the local tabloids, along with several rumors springing up that Sonic and Amy were dating secretly. Amy inhaled deeply clenching her fist looking up around at her fellow passengers. For now, Amy couldn't allow herself to grieve, she had to inspire the citizens to fight back and she saw several of her fellow Mobians gazing at her with sympathetic expressions on their faces.

"I know that everyone here is saddened by the fact Sonic has been defeated, and Eggman has won," Amy said with determination. "It does look like a hopeless, situation, but we can't just give up when it looks like there is no hope left at all. I've been given a letter to join a Resistance sent to me by Tails. Sonic wouldn't want anyone of us to give up and I'm going to join the Resistance to help get our home back. Who is with me?"

For a few tense moments, silence fell over the compartment before a chorus of loud yells of echoed all over the compartment with the citizens standing up shouting their support to a Resistance that hadn't yet come to fruition, but it was enough for the citizens to hold onto a fragile shred of hope, in their darkest hour.

* * *

Sunset Heights, Two weeks later.

Rouge felt the wind catch underneath her wings. The bat's pristine white fur had specks of dirt on it. The bat knew she couldn't keep flying for any longer. Rouge landed on the ground aching everywhere all over her body. She'd arrived back at Westoplois after failing to hear from either Shadow or Omega after their mission at Arsenal Pyramid only to find the massive city in flames with robots swarming the streets, along with the unwelcome sight of the G.U.N headquarters in flames. Rouge had traveled from town to town only to find Eggman's robots ransacking them.

"Come on Omega where are you?" Rogue muttered. Sunset Heights was still intact since due to it being one of the more remote towns. Rouge heard through the grapevine that Eggman had set his sights on Metropolis, and G.U.N spread thin trying to contain Eggman's forces. They had been successful in driving back several groups of rogue robots. So far ten percent of G.U.N's forces had been killed by Eggman's forces.

 _There's been no sign of Shadow, and when I arrived at his last known coordinates, he_ wasn't there _. Where are you Shadow?_ Rouge anxiously thought to herself landing on the cobblestones noticing something hunched over in the middle of the square.

"Omega!" Rouge hurried over, and she felt a small twinge of relief spying the large robot sitting hunched over, and her hope faded away upon seeing the damage inflicted on Omega. The robot's optics dimmed. Several large cracks ran along the robot's hull indicating he'd been dropped forcefully to the ground from somewhere high up.

"Oh, it looks like you've been put through the wringer all right," Rouge muttered circling Omega running a hand over Omega's surface. "I'm certain that Fox Boy will be able to repair you."

A TV flickered to life in the middle of an electronics store, and a small crowd was already gathering in front of the store. "It has been three weeks since Eggman has defeated Sonic and he has already fully conquered five percent of the world, and Shamar surrendered today after a siege lasting thirteen days."

The news sent up quite a few moans of dismay from the crowd and Rouge kept watching the news report, anxious for news on Shaodw. Her heart sunk spying a familiar black and red Hedgehog

"Also there are confirmed sightings of Shadow the Hedgehog working for Eggman," The Ocelot spoke unable to keep the anger from her voice. "For now, no one knows why Shadow has defected to the grasp of the Eggman Empire. I've also received a report that Eggman has seized full control over Park Avenue."

Rouge turned away from the crowd making her way back to Omega. She'd been hoping for some news on Shadow, but the news Shadow was once more working for Eggman, the stab of betrayal burying itself deep into her heart. She remembered with a shudder that the last thing she'd remembered hearing on her end of the communicator followed by an indescribable noise Shadow speaking to Infinite and then the communicator going dead.

In a daze Rouge slowly slid down the side of Omega. She fought to keep the bitter tears from flowing down her face. The bat wanted to scream out in anguish. She could feel her heart slowly being crushed by the revelation of Shadow's betrayal. It pained Rouge that Shadow who'd once been a close friend to both her and Omega would turn on them like this.

"Shadow, why did you side with Eggman?" Rouge said to herself standing next to Omega looking up at the deepening red evening sky. "Did you forget your promise to Maria?"

Rouge knew something was wrong with Shadow having broken his promise to bat had thought their friendship meant something to the brooding hedgehog, despite their rocky start. The harsh reality hit Rouge of Shadow's betrayal and Omega sitting in a deactivated heap it hit her for the first time she was all alone in a strange world in the grasp of the Eggman Empire.

* * *

 _Author's note. This chapter was my longest one yet. This one was over 4000, words mostly due to me wanting to have the citizens witness Sonic's defeat so that it would leave more of an emotional impact on the citizens. Also, the seeds are slowly being planted for the formation of the Resistance._

 _I honestly didn't like how Tails was portrayed in Forces, so I decided to make him a little more useful in this chapter. This won't be the last time Tails is going to be competent. I mean Tails has faced down Eggman in both Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 with no fear, along having fought Chaos 4._

 _The reason that Silver calls Eggman the Iron Emperor is because he doesn't know his name and when he was growing up in the future his parents used to tell him to beware the Iron Emperor._ _We finally find out what Knuckles and Silver have been up to all this time and we're finally in the main game. Out of the villains, Metal Sonic is the only one that's real, and I'm not abandoning the plot that the villains are illusions._

 _I do plan to have a few OCs show up, but Sahara is not going to be the Avatar. I do have someone else in mind for that position, and he'll be coming soon._

 _Also, I have to shout out to bajy, Alexandria Prime, The GameNguyener and SpiderDom321 for the reviews and thank you guys so much._

 _Well then as you know opinions/, suggestions and reviews are always welcome and appreciated._


	6. Standing United

_Authors note Before we proceed with the next chapter I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of the fantastic people who have reviewed and followed this story._

 _bajy Thank you for the review, and I'm glad that you're enjoying it._

 _SpiderDom 321 Thanks, man and it was pretty dark with Chaos almost suffocating Sonic, and things are going to get darker for Sonic._

 _TGN Thank you, and I'm so pleased that you were satisfied with Tails' role. He's going to be more useful in the future, and I hated how his character was portrayed in Forces since I have plans for his character development._

 _Alexandria Prime. Thank you and don't worry Tails will be among the group that goes to rescue Sonic._

 _Extreme Light 9 Thank you so much and even though he didn't show it was painful for Shadow to hear those words from Maria._

 _Without any more delays here is Chapter six._

* * *

In the month following Sonic's defeat Eggman's takeover had been swift and brutal. G.U.N had been one of Eggman's first targets and even though the military organization had fought back valiantly only to be wiped out by Eggman's forces. There were only a few small factions of the once mighty organization left. It was the same story with every town on Mobius since Eggman's forces had been conquering towns left and right. Mobians captured by the dozen, being shipped off to Eggman's factories never to return. Families were separated; friends lost to the ironclad grip of the Eggman Empire.

Tails let out a low sigh flying on ahead with Knuckles and Silver not too far behind him. They had taken refuge in a large bunker that was on the verge of Sunset Heights which was one of the last few remaining strongholds. Westopolis was still in the middle of a siege that had been going on for the previous three weeks. Rumors had it that Eggman was on the verge of conquering the massive city as GUN was putting a losing battle.

Silver could tell even though he was putting on a brave front Tails was hurting deeply for the loss of his adoptive brother. The young kit felt a small tear running down the side of his face, for he hastily raised a hand wiping it away.

"I'm sorry that we couldn't save Sonic in time." Silver said to the young kit.

"I know, and it's not your fault. Sonic's just like a brother to me, and n-now he's gone." The last word came out was forced out of his mouth for Tails still stubbornly refused to believe that Sonic was dead.

We need to figure out the secret behind that gem Eggman's new weapon had on his chest. Tails thought to himself, looking ahead. He'd spent many sleepless nights scratching his head over the mysterious jewel.

"I still can't believe that they shot down the idea of a Resistance to fight back against Eggman," Knuckles said, punching a nearby wall in frustration seeing it crumble from the might of the echidna's punch. "It's the one shot we have to reclaim Mobius back from Eggman."

"They're scared, and they've lost hope that's why." Silver replied.

When they had all gathered in the Bunker, it was then Knuckles had announced his idea of a Resistance a small group that would lead the fight against the Eggman Empire. The plan had been shot down by most of the Mobians. The notion that a small army like theirs could even stand a chance against the might of the Eggman Empire was a near impossible concept.

The three of them were returning to their bunker, keeping an eye out for any signs of approaching robots as all three of them landed. Knuckles strode forward issuing a series of raps on the door. The small hatch near the top of the door opened seeing Espio's eyes judging them suspiciously.

"Password?"

"Eggman stinks."

The metallic hatch slid away as the door swung open. Espio stood at the ready clutching a pair of kunai in case Knuckles, Silver and Tails weren't whom they said that they were. The Chaotix and Amy had been some of the first arrivals in the coming weeks as most of the Mobians that'd taken refuge in the bunker were refugees who had fled their towns upon hearing the news that Sonic's defeat.

Sahara had been busy running about helping provide first aid for the Resistance. The maned wolf was skilled at applying pressure and keeping patients calm, so she was cited as one of the voices of reasons in the group. She was often around Amy acting as the pink hedgehog's emotional support.

"So what did you do before Eggman attacked Sahara?" Amy asked the maned wolf for she was monitoring the computer screen. The images on the computer screens showcased several ruined towns with the Death Egg Sentinels rampaging through the smoking ruins that were once Park Avenue. A small line of prisoners escorted from Spagonia. The last one showed Empire City still holding its own against the robots that were swarming into the city.

"I used to be a medical student before this whole mess started," Sahara responded when someone had asked before the corners of her mouth fell into a small frown. "Not everyone from the medical college, I was studying at made it out alive."

"Has there been any news ever since we left?" Knuckles asked.

"There have been a couple of new arrivals," Espio walked on ahead. "I think that you're familiar with them." Espio replied, leading the trio into the main room as many Mobians were milling around the area some of them sat staring off into space looking lost.

Amy was busy typing in at one of the computer units her fingers flew over the keys for Tails made his way over to a small table that scattered with a variety of weapons. The young kit was secretive about his newest project which covered with a little brown cloth he called it Project Wispon. The fox was being mysterious about his plan and would only reveal the details when the time was right.

"Rouge! Omega!" the crowd around the white bat slowly parted for the former agent was limping forward with several gashes along her right arm and leg. The bat's usually white pristine fur had small dirt patches on it. Omega sat in a corner slumped over his red optics were dimmed.

"Hey, it's such a relief to see some friendly faces finally," Rouge said limping forward slightly. Tails hurried over to Omega running his hands over the robot's cracked hide his expression was one of deep concentration.

"Hmm, I don't see anything irreparable, but it does look like Omega fell from quite a height."

"Rouge what happened? Where's Shadow?" Knuckles asked hearing a few grumbles and muttering appear from around the crowd. Silver was quick to note that there was a general sense of unease in the room for Rouge noticed it too a small tense frown appeared on her face.

"Oh, so you mean that traitor that killed Sonic and helped Eggman take over the world?" A battered bear called out from the crowd. The look of anger was all too clear on the bear's face at his words a tense manner fell over the whole group.

"So then how can you be sympathetic to that monster?" A skunk slipped from out of the crowd her eyes filled with a wave of anger that wasn't usually in her eyes. She looked tired and emaciated.

"Because of those two monsters, my family and I lost our home on Park Avenue!"

The skunk gestured over to where her husband and four children stood. All of them looked tired and emaciated as well as miserable.

"Without Sonic here, we're finished!"

"It's been a month ever since that mole summoned us here and all we've done is hide while the rest of the world collapses around us!"

"Look, Shadow isn't exactly as heroic as Sonic, but I know that there's no way that he would do any of the stuff that you mentioned." Rouge took a step forward spreading her wings ever so slightly to calm the skunk mother down.

"Besides, he made a promise to a friend a long time ago that he would help protect the world and make everyone happy." Rouge retorted clenching her fists curling her lip ever so slightly. She had already lost Omega and Shadow. She was the last member of Team Dark that was standing, and she wasn't about to let someone else tell her what her friends acted.

"We've got something!"

A sigh of relief emitted from Knuckles hearing the pink hedgehog cry out frantically typing something into the keys inputting something onto the monitor feed. The image flickered to life, showing several Egg pawns marching through Green Hill Zone. The once lush green hillsides now had patches of the desert on the outskirts much of the water had turned to sand. A long line of Mobians was forced to walk forward led by a pair of Egg Pawns with a couple more Egg Pawns at the back of the line pointing their weapons in case someone broke from the group of prisoners and made a break for it.

"Those prisoners look like that they're heading to the Green Hill Zone prison facility."

"All right then whose up for helping some prisoners escape?"

Several hands went up as Sahara stepped up. "I'll happily go, and any strike that we make against Eggman will feel good after all the pain and misery he's put us through."

"Okay, then Sahara, the Chaotix and I will go and rescue those prisoners." Knuckles took one last look at the room at the rest of the Mobians. They were all scared and that they'd lost all sense of hope that they would be even able to reclaim Mobius back from the iron grasp of the Eggman Empire. A few more Mobians muttered amongst themselves until a couple of more volunteers slowly stepped away from the rest of the crowd joining the small rescue team.

"Wait for Knuckles you should take these." Tails came running back to the table holding a small long yellow drill-like weapon with a single eye and orange markings along with a red object shaped like a little fireball. The last one resembled a lightning bolt.

"What are they? Are they weapons of some kind?" Espio asked, fingering his kunai watching Tails handing out the rest of the strange weapons to Sahara and the other two volunteers who looked at them in confusion.

"They're the result of Project Wispon. I give you the Wispons," Tails beamed. "They're weapons that I built to help us fight back against Eggman."

Knuckles took a look at the lighting shaped weapon. "Wait, a minute; they look kind of like Wisps."

"Whoa, no way! Are you saying that there are innocent Wisps trapped in there?" Charmy buzzed of prying at the lightning shaped Wispon. "Hold on little fellow, Charmy's going to get you out!"

"No Charmy it's okay. The Wisps are willing to help us out in this war," Tails said as Espio carefully pried Charmy of the Wispon holding the bee back. "The Wispons were built to replicate the power of the Wisps and go ahead Sahara test it out."

Sahara hesitated for with a flick of her wrist; she swung the Lightning Wispon a full arc of electricity jumped out from the end of the Wispon prompting a few mutters of appreciation for Knuckles glanced around the room a small grin began to form on his face.

"Oh yeah, we have a way to fight back!" Vector turned around the broad smile was near impossible to miss on his face.

'Well then let's go and get those guys," Knuckles raised a fist in the air. "If we take out that prison in Green Hill Zone and bring the prisoners back here, then it should be enough that there's still a light of hope somewhere in Mobius!"

With their leader's words, a small spark of hope ignited amongst the few members of the Resistance that genuinely believed they had a chance to take back Mobius.

* * *

Green Hill Zone

The low storm clouds rumbled overhead the cold rain poured down mercilessly on the line of prisoners trudging through the wet grass the large stone cold gray building loomed out of the darkness. To the Mobians it was one of their final resting places for in the middle of the line of the prisoners a young coyote with golden fur lifted his head, gauging the ominous building that stood in front of him and the other prisoners.

The sharp barbed wire ran along the several wooden stakes that had been set up along the borders of the small prison that the Mobians were forced to walk to, the robots walking alongside the prisoners kept their blasters trained on the prisoners dissuading any form of escape.

Well, then this place looks cozy. The coyote thought to himself sourly.

His short red mane flattened on his head, a pair of scars were on the bridge of his muzzle. His violet eyes gazed around the line of Mobians. His tail was unusually long with a red tip at the end of it for a coyote dragging behind in the mud behind him, and his red gloves had orange clips on it, and he wore black hiking boots with purple clips on them a black stripe on both sides of his body running down his sides.

"Chaser," He turned his head to look over at the rabbit who had spoken. "What are we going to do?"

Chaser glanced down his uncuffed hands. Chaser snorted at Eggman's foolishness. Sure, robots were marching behind him, but still, he'd been itching for a fight. The coyote knew no matter how bad their current situation was even in the darkest of times no one should ever have to lose all traces of hope. The line consisted of twenty Mobians counting him, which some prisoners were from Adabat, Spagonia, and Empire City.

Chaser heard a deep cough coming from behind him, glancing back over his shoulder making eye contact with a grey crocodile, with a downcast expression on his face allowing his tail to drag along the ground behind him, a yellow fennec fox brought up the rear, looking sadly at the robots around her.

"It's all over for us," A grey scaled crocodile spoke up. "Becuase of Sonic's defeat, we have to accept oEggman's rule. Maybe being prisoners is the best fate we could ask for, we can't fight back."

Chaser let out a low growl, quickly turning around to face the crocodile his fists clenched while all around him his fellow Mobians paused to watch the scene unfolding before them ignoring the robots tugging on their wrists trying to force the prisoners to walk again.

"Even though Sonic was defeated, we can't lose what little hope we have left," Chaser said fiercely. "If we allow ourselves to be directed towards a prison meekly, it'll show Eggman he's succeeded in breaking our spirits. I know I won't become another prisoner under that mad human's thumb."

"I get what you're saying, but how can we escape?" The crocodile asked.

"It's simple, all we have to do is to fight back."

Before anyone could stop him, Chaser suddenly broke away from the line, ignoring the gasps of shock from the rest of the prisoners as he charged forward lunging out with a swift kick to the nearest robots knocking the small cannon from out of its hands blasting the robot to pieces.

"Chaser behind you!"

Chaser heard the tread of robotic feet on the ground; he dropped the weapon ducking underneath the hail of bullets planting his tail underneath him pushing himself upwards kicking out with his feet hearing the satisfying crunch of robotic parts underneath the force of his kick. The revving sound of the Motobugs in the distance signaled the approach of the Badniks.

"For Sonic!" One of the prisoners cried out.

The birds' cry was effective in rallying several Mobians breaking their formation charging towards the rest of the Motobugs armed with nothing, but their fists and a strong determination to survive. In mere minutes the line of terrified Mobians had transformed from downtrodden and oppressed citizens to Mobians with fighting spirits.

Two of the Egg pawns noticing the fray from the prison tower saw the carnage. One of them raced for the nearest communicator beginning to relay its message.

"Error! Prisoners are escaping! Contact the De-" A shower of sparks shot up from the robot's body as Espio materialized from out of the shadows. Vector and Charmy appeared alongside him, the crocodile pounding his fists together eager for the oncoming battle ahead of him.

"Well, then boys, it's time to earn our pay!"

The rest of the Egg pawns swarmed into the middle of the room to aid their fallen comrades. It was a complete curb stomp battle for the robots couldn't just stand up to the strength of the Chaotix. In a matter of moments, the egg pawns had been reduced to scrap as Vector made his way over to the control panel pressing down on the button that opened the doors to the prison allowing Knuckles and Rouge to enter the base.

Knuckles led the way through vast open plains of Green Hill Zone prison where several prisoners sat together cold wet and miserable. Sahara ran over to them swinging out her Lighting Wispon at the Buzz Bombers that were swooping down the stream of electricity cut through the robotic bees sending sparking robotic parts come crashing down to the ground as Knuckles effortlessly destroying several Egg pawns that came racing towards him leaving robotic pieces scattered all over the grass.

"Commander Knuckles over here!"

Knuckles raced over to the first of the prisoners a small red dog slowly lifted his head for a few moments hope shone in his light blue eyes.

"Are you here to save us? You're not with Eggman are you?"

"We're here to save you," Knuckles held out his hand, allowing the red dog to take it standing shakily up onto his legs. The rest of the prisoners followed suit looking hopeful for the first time. "Just follow us, and we'll take you back to our base." Knuckles said hearing the sound of running footsteps, seeing a couple of Resistance members helping an injured coyote between them as Chaser and three other prisoners were limping ever so slightly.

"We found these four fighting off a wave of Egg Pawns, sadly the rest of the prisoners that were in this line are dead."

Knuckles quietly closed his eyes in grief along with Sahara and the Chaotix who'd just arrived on the scene.

"There's not much we can do for them now," Knuckles turned towards the members of the Resistance. "We have to get them back to the base, and we have to let them heal."

"Wait, there's one of own that needs medical attention." A hedgehog spoke up gesturing to a pair of prisoners who helped carry forward a jackal that was half-consciousness. His head hung down limply gripping a small green flamberge between his fingers tightly. He slowly lifted his head, letting out a low moan a small whimper left his lips, his eyes were half open and embedded on the left side of the jackal's chest was a small strange fragment of a magenta gem.

"Ze-Zer-inn?" The jackal gasped out before his eyes closed his head slumping over. Espio came forward, placing a hand on the jackal's forehead frowning slightly. "He has a slight fever and judging from his injuries we have to take him back to the Resistance base."

Sahara came forward noticing that a few of the other prisoners were injured. "This poor jackal needs medical attention," Sahara said gently noting that the jackal's left leg had a few nasty cuts and some of his injuries were healing poorly. "Commander Knuckles all of these prisoners do."

There was a good chance that if any of his wounds were infected, he would die from the infection.

Knuckles nodded, looking over at the rest of the Resistance. "We need to fall back, and the first thing that we do is to take care of these prisoners."

The Resistance group broke into a run with Knuckles carrying the jackal noting that he felt far lighter than he should and Sahara and Chaser helped a pair of prisoners walk with the Chaotix bringing up the rear.

* * *

Back at the Resistance base, the cool nighttime breeze blew through the holes in the roof; the mood had slightly improved with the rescued prisoners, including the jackal had been taken into the infirmary as Sahara along with the other nurses had been tending to the injured jackal as Sahara came up to Knuckles.

"Good news Dr. Mina says that the jackal will pull through and that the rest of the prisoners are in good health," Sahara informed Knuckles. "With the

The look of relief on the echidna's face was refreshing to see. The Guardian of Master Emerald had slowly adapted to the role of the leader, even though he'd been reluctant in the beginning to accept, but after today's raid, the echidna had settled into the role very well. The coyote who'd led the charge against the Egg pawns stood not too far away from them in his ears flattened in submission.

"Can we see him?" Knuckles asked. "I just want to speak with him briefly."

Sahara hesitated before she nodded. "Yes, Commander, but don't keep him awake for too long." She walked ahead with Knuckles falling into step behind her with Chaser bringing up the rear.

The infirmary in the Resistance was one of the more packed rooms had several white beds all lined up in a row with most of the prisoners that had been rescued fast asleep. Some of them had no food for several weeks indicated by their caved in stomachs. Most of the prisoners had bandages wrapped around their arms and legs. The jackal was already sitting up in his bed, his weapon taken away from for safety reasons.

Sahara and Chaser arrived in the room with Knuckles slowly approaching the jackal who was watching him. The weird fragment of the gem was smaller upon closer inspection, which embedded into the left side of the jackal's chest. His upper right arm wrapped up in bandages along with, a gauze pad on his left shoulder, and there were bandages lightly wrapped around his torso to stop the bleeding.

 _This kid can't be any older than sixteen years old_. Knuckles thought to himself, looking at the jackal.

"So where am I?" The jackal asked, looking around warily at his unfamiliar surroundings. His fingers tensed reaching for a weapon that was no longer there.

"Hey, take it easy you're safe now," Knuckles said soothingly. "We rescued you from the prison in Green Hill Zone, and we just want to know what's your name and what is that thing in your chest?"

Sahara saw the young jackal flatten his large ears a nervous expression was on his face. "My name it's Raven, and I don't know about this strange gem." The jackal stifled a yawn his eyes began to close sinking back into the bed sheets his eyes betraying just how weak the jackal was.

"Okay, I'll take your word for now, but I promise you that we will reclaim Mobius back from Eggman one day it's a promise." Knuckles said. The jackal nodded, allowing sleep to overtake him and he settled back into a quiet, peaceful slumber.

"Don't worry about it, Commander," Sahara said. "Jackals are shifty by nature, but I think that we can trust him."

"I would've liked to get some more information out of him, but he does need his rest."

The trio left the infirmary walking back down the hallway when Chaser cleared his throat ever so slightly catching Knuckles' attention. Chaser shifted his weight from one foot to the other. There was something on the coyote's mind. He lifted his head, making eye contact with Knuckles.

"I wish to join the Resistance Commander."

"Well then is that so?" Knuckles asked. "This is war Chaser, not a game. I can't have anyone putting lives at needless risk."Do you understand that Chaser?"

"I truly do and if I have to follow commands, then so be it." Chaser said. "I used to be a mercenary, but I've put that part of my life behind me for good."

Chaser felt Knuckles clapped a hand on his shoulder. The force of the impact almost knocked Chaser over, but he regained his balance. The coyote heard faint whisperings of the Guardian of the Master Emerald's strength. How he once beat Sonic out of his super form during their first encounter on Angel Island a long time ago.

"That's good to know and welcome to the Resistance Chaser." Knuckles said, shaking the coyote's outstretched hand turned on his heel leading Chaser and Sahara into the meeting room where everyone gathered. The crowd parted ever so slightly, allowing their commander to walk right up to the stage.

"Everyone the raid on the Green Hill Zone Prison base was a complete success!" Knuckles' words sent up a cheer throughout the base with everyone applauding and cheering for happiness. It was the happiest anyone had ever been in a long time.

"I do have something to say." Knuckles added, turning his gaze over at the large crowd of Mobians who were watching him with a new expression on their faces. Recently, some Mobians were looking a little more hopeful "Eggman may have won for now, but I say that even though we are small in our number and we have several recruits among our number including Chaser!"

Chaser nodded ever so slightly seeing the Resistance welcome him with open arms. Silver stood up to take the stage next to Knuckles. The echidna slapped the telekinetic hedgehog on the back, causing him to stumble slightly.

"Silver here has a few words to say to everyone here." Silver swallowed nervously. Silver had never given out a speech before in his life, and with everyone watching him he felt nervous.

"I know that it's easy to give in to hopelessness and despair, believing that it would be better to let Eggman win." Silver said looking at the crowd as some of them, nodded.

"I, however, believe that we can make a stand against the Eggman Empire! We're looking for people with a fighting spirit. Neither age nor experience doesn't matter in this battle against Eggman. As long as we stay strong, I believe that we will prevail!"

At Silver's words, the crowd began to cheer even louder as Knuckles stepped forward onto the stage.

"Silver's right as long as we stand united then there's no way that Eggman has truly won yet. We will rescue Sonic; we have to figure out the secret of Eggman's new weapon and one day Eggman will fall." The cheers were growing louder, for the first time since Sonic's defeat everyone in the Resistance felt hopeful they would be able to win this war.

"That is the promise I make to you guys now. It doesn't seem likely now, but one day Mobius will be ours again!" Knuckles called out the cheers that came from the crowd reverberated all around the meeting room. It took a few moments for the noise to die down, but when it did a small spark of hope had been reignited amongst the Mobians. Outside of the Resistance base in a small patch of soil a small flower slowly began to bloom showing off its bright yellow appeared that even the planet itself was starting to hope that it would be free from the clutches of the Eggman Empire one day.

* * *

Author's _note. Okay, I have to admit it this chapter turned out much differently than I originally planned. If I had, to be honest, I'm happy with how this chapter turned out. Now then I wonder who the mysterious jackal could be? ;)_

 _Also Chaser and Sahara they aren't going to steal the spotlight from the main characters, they are just there for support._

 _It was never brought up on who made the Wispons and so In my story I headcanon that Tails was the one who would create the Wispons and I remember the first time that I saw the Wispons my first thought was oh that would be something that Tails would invent._

 _I based the Green Hill Prison on some scrapped concept art for Forces. I liked the idea that Green Hill Zone was originally going to be a prison of some sort and it's a shame that plan got scrapped because that really would've been cool to see._

 _Well, then we see that the Resistance is finally starting to come together and I wanted to focus on the idea that at first, not everyone would be on board with the idea. I'd imagine that with Sonic gone everyone is feeling nothing, but hopelessness, and despair so I decided to expand on that._

 _As you know opinions/ suggestions and reviews are always_ welcome _and appreciated. Until next time have a good weekend, and I will see talk to you guys with the next chapter._


	7. Plight of the Prisoner

_Author's note I'm back guys with a brand new chapter for you._

 _TGN Thanks as always. I'm glad that you liked the idea that Tails was the one who invented the Wispons. The game never bothers to explain who created the Wispons since I just based it on a hunch that they would be something that Tails would invent for sure and it's not going to be last time that Tails will be useful. I'm going to take him seriously in this story and expand on both his and the other character's roles in this story._

 _Thank you bajy, and I'm pleased to see that you still like it._

 _SpiderDom 321 Thanks for the support! The Resistance is just starting their fight against Eggman, and things are going to pick up later on. Trust me things aren't going to look good for Sonic at the moment._

 _Warnings mention of torture, blood, and violence._

 _Without further ado here is chapter seven._

 _Disclaimer I don't own anyhting. Sonic the Hedgehog is copyrighted to Sega._

* * *

Pain racked throughout Sonic's body. He struggled ageist the unconsciousness that was reluctant to release its hold on him. The cold metal floor was cold to the peach fur on his stomach. Sonic let out a low moan of pain slowly forcing his eyes open, blinking them once then twice. His vision slowly began to clear, the pounding headache and the constant ringing in his ears slowly faded away as he blearily looked around his cell.

The first thing that he saw was that the cell was smaller than the other cells, it resembled a square and the object that Sonic was lying on turned out to be a hard bench. He forced himself to his feet hearing a sharp pop in his back. In all of his life, Sonic never had felt so stiff before. Sonic had no idea where he was though he had to guess, he was probably in one of Eggman's bases.

How long was I out? So, what if Eggman's captured me? The others will come for me sooner or later. Sonic allowed the thoughts to run through his mind. Sonic forced himself to his feet, ignoring the wave of pain emitting from his bruises. Sonic unsteadily got to his feet looking down at his wrists for the first time noticing a bright blue light binding his wrists together that hurt his eyes. The only entrance to his cell were several blue bars that acted as a force field. Sonic slowly pressed his back up against the wall pushing himself into an awkward standing position.

"Agh!" Sonic winced taking the first step feeling a sudden stab of searing pain rushing from a gash oozing blood on his left leg. He forced himself to walk to the entrance of his cell looking out at the bright blue bars. Peering out between the bars that were too narrow for him to squeeze through. Sonic looked, and the sight he saw outside of his cell made his heart plummet into the pit of his stomach.

He noticed that his cell was the only one along the winding pathway and he looked out over at the vast expanse down at the massive hexagonal platform that served as some arena and on the other side he saw were several big cells that were jam-packed with Mobians were crammed together. Some of them were sitting hunched on the ground, others were pacing around agitated, and a few Mobians lay still on the ground not moving.

The last thing I can remember is that I told Tails to get the citizens out of Park Avenue. Sonic recalled with a shudder as he began to think back. The hedgehog felt a pit of dread forming in his stomach over the fate of his best friend and little brother. The last thing he recalled before passing out was the masked stranger's feet landing in front of him and the horrified look on Tails' face seeing his adoptive brother taken away.

Please, Chaos please I hope that Tails is okay and if he's hurt or worse, I don't know how I could live with myself. Sonic shook away his ruminations. If this situation as Eggman's prisoner weren't so dire, Sonic would've laughed at the irony that the Deity, he was praying to be working for Eggman once more.

The fact Zavok was still alive, the last time he'd seen the Zeti was when the leader of the Deadly Six had plunged to his death at the end of their final battle on the Lost Hex. The Zeti losing his grip along the sides of the volcano tumbling head over heels

"I don't think his skin was lava proof, so there was no way that he could even survive a fall like that."

Next up was Chaos. Sonic shuddered again remembering their last encounter at Park Avenue. The cold water that covered him, he still recalled the terror of being completely submerged. He hated water with a passion ever since he'd traversed through Labyrinth Zone in his first quest to stop Eggman all those years ago.

"The last time that I fought Chaos, it was when he became Perfect Chaos and rampaged through Station Square, and I went Super to stop him quelling his rage in the process. I just don't get it. How is Chaos out of the Master Emerald?"

Sonic folded his arms across his chest, his mind wandering over to Metal Sonic, recalling their last encounter aboard the Final Fortress years ago turning into Metal Overlord followed by defeating him alongside Tails and Knuckles forcing his robotic counterpart to resume his original form.

"If I had to take a guess, I think that Eggman must've reprogrammed him after he overthrew him and tried to seize control of his empire." Sonic mused pacing back and forth now the sound of his dirty sneakers echoed off the cold metal floor. Sonic felt his guts tighten his thoughts, at last, coming to Shadow.

The thought that the Ultimate Lifeform had sided with Eggman once more caused Sonic to clench his restrained fist hard ignoring the sharp pain that ran along his fingers as he did so feeling a cold stab of betrayal. He could only imagine the emotional turmoil that both Rouge and Omega were going through along with the rest of the world was most likely shocked at Shadow's sudden betrayal.

They were his two closest friends and let me guess his promise to Maria means nothing to him anymore?

Sonic felt the tight knot in his stomach growing since he was worried about Tails and the rest of his friends.

Please let Tails be safe. I hope that Knuckles' isn't doing anything too rash. What about the Chaotix? How is Amy holding up?

Sonic's thoughts were interrupted his ears picking up a pair of metallic black and the silver boots clacking of the metallic pathway noticing that the sound caused most of the prisoners to shrink back against the walls of their cells in fear.

"It's him. Oh, Sonic watch out."

"The masked monster."

"Sonic, please be careful."

Sonic heard the voices coming from the prisoners who had expressions of fear on their face staring at the figure in the silver mask making his way towards Sonic's cell. The jackal came to a stop in front of Sonic's cell the figure tilted his head ever so slightly in interest keeping his arms folded across his chest. The strange magenta gem gleamed against the ebony fur of the jackal his thick bushy tail swept from side to side slowly.

Sonic swallowed nervously at first seeing the figure's gaze zeroed in on the movement watching his throat bob. Sonic gazed back at him in silence before a cocky grin spread across his face. He wasn't going to show fear in front of the jackal.

"So, then you're Eggman's newest monster of the week? I'm guessing that your name is Infinite?"

"That is correct," Infinite took a step forward, approaching the cell. "You put on a pathetic performance as Mobius' hero." Underneath the mask, a small smirk formed on his face. "You are nothing, but an insect just waiting to be crushed underfoot."

"Yeah, well if you couldn't even beat me on your own just goes to show just how weak you are," Sonic said unaware of the jackal's hand clenching into a fist. The gem on his chest pulsed ever so slightly the single eye narrowed to a mere slit. "Oh, it's the truth."

"Don't you ever dare call me weak ever again."

Sonic grinned. "What was that? I mean that if you can't even take me one-on-one Infinite, it means that you're just a weak little dog."

There was no mistaking the low growl emitting from the jackal's throat. Infinite raised a hand deactivating the force field stepping into the cell the single eye zeroed in like a hungry predator watching its prey for Sonic felt a few small beads of sweat beginning to roll down his quills. He wasn't going to show Infinite that he was afraid.

Okay If I can make a dash, right past Infinite and get these things off, then I'll have to rescue the other prisoners, and we'll be able to make a break for it.

"Look at you are hiding behind a poorly made clown mask. That shows how weak—"

Sonic didn't even get a chance to finish his sentence. With a low snarling sound, Infinite suddenly ran forward, slamming Sonic's face into the wall. The cold metal was pressed right up against Sonic's face. The sharp claws grasped Sonic's shoulder the sharp tips slicing through Sonic's fur and skin, causing small trickles of blood to well up along the peach fur on his arm.

The streaks of blood ran down his arms in trickles. Sonic felt the sharp kick delivered to his abdomen the wind knocked out of him. Infinite ran forward to grab by Sonic his quills being spun around to face Infinite raising his hands the sharp tips of his claws were inches away from Sonic's face before the second kick was delivered to his stomach knocking him to the wall hearing the crack his skull made.

There's no way I'm not going to lose to this guy again!

Sonic growled forcing himself to his feet scowling crouching down getting ready to attack Infinite who merely raised a hand the wave of red energy swept over the cell.

Sonic winced placing his hands on his ears, protecting his hearing from the high-pitched ringing that traveled all over his room and Sonic heard a pair of footsteps. He slowly opened his eyes. The jail cell was gone. He looked around the vast area in confusion seeing the enormous bleak wasteland standing in front of him. The low breeze blew through the dark grey cloudy skies.

"Okay Infinite no more hiding! Come out and fight me, you coward!"

A sound of a gun barrel caught Sonic's attention. He slowly turned around the pit of dread widening in his stomach.

"No."

Tails stood before him clad in robotic parts. A gray plate with a red visor covered the left side of his face; his right hand replaced with a robotic blaster. The light that shone in Tails' light blue eye was blank his face remained in a stoic frown keeping the blaster leveled right at Sonic.

"Sonic why did you abandon us?" Tails asked any trace of emotion in his voice was gone. "Look at what happened to us because Eggman won."

Sonic's horror grew. Hearing his best friend, his little adoptive brother speaking in a monotonous tone, pointing the blaster at him chilled him to the bone.

"Tails, what the hell did that madman do to you?" Sonic demanded to feel his anger grow his hatred beginning to build for the mad doctor. He'd failed, he'd let all of them down. This whole mess was his fault.

"T-Tails it's me! Come on bro snap out of it!" Sonic ran forward, grabbing Tails by the shoulder attempting to shake some sense into Tails when he felt the blaster placing against his skull, and he slowly turned around his heart sinking into the pit of his stomach.

"Take a look." Sonic slowly turned around on his heel the pit of dread growing he spied three figures that lay spread out lying ominously still on the ground.

Not to far away from him lay Team Dark that wasn't moving at all.

"Shadow! Rouge! Omega!" Sonic hurried over to Team Dark noticing that it was already too late for him to help them in any way that he could.

The first thing he saw was Omega laying in a pile destroyed; Rouge lay slumped next to him as her eyes stared blankly up at the sky. Not too far away Shadow lying on his side, his throat had been sliced wide open blood pouring out in a full trickle. Sonic saw his eyes being drawn to Omega's severed hand resting on the ground with Shadow and Rouge's resting on top of it.

Even in death the three of them were united as they had been in life.

"They weren't the only ones to die Sonic."

Sonic turned to see a white hedgehog that he'd never seen before lying on the ground with multiple stab wounds covering his body his sides rose and fell unevenly he was still fighting to stay alive.

"N-no it c-can't end here." The strange hedgehog rolled onto his side, gasping and coughing for air; his eyes were beginning to close his body giving up the futile struggle to cling to what little life that remained.

"I failed. I'm sorry..." The hedgehog trailed of his eyes closing the last breath of life leaving his body.

"No! Hey, come on now! Don't give up!" Sonic cried out running to the hedgehog's side shaking his shoulder. He looked over spying the Chaotix's dead bodies lying not too far away from the hedgehog. It was too late for all three members of the Chaotix. All of their throats had been slit as Vector had curled up keeping Charmy close to his chest and his right arm was slung across Espio holding the dead chameleon closest to him in a pool of red blood.

"So-oni-c-c."

Sonic turned around; his dread was growing spying Knuckles lying on his side multiple gunshot wounds littering the echidna's body. It was clear he was dead, and Amy was lying on her back a large stab wound in the center of her dress the crimson blood staining her usually light red dress an even darker red.

"No Amy!" Sonic raced over placing his hands in the middle of her chest, trying to stem the bleeding his white gloves immediately saturated with red,

"No, I can't there's no way that Eggman's going to get away with this I promise." Sonic began to tremble all over the sting of tears was in his eyes. So, many of his friends had already died, and Mobius was under Eggman's control.

The vast, bleak wasteland vanished in a heartbeat Sonic blinked once, then twice in confusion staring in disbelief at his cell. Infinite stood there, his arms folded across his chest.

Sonic breathed in and out his sides rising and falling with fast, frantic breaths his pupils dilated with fear. How was it that he was back in this cell with Infinite? He was in a vast wasteland. Most of his friends were dead or dying. He bent over his hands trembling from the shock, he looked down at his gloves expecting them soiled with Amy's blood and gore, but to his confusion, they were still a pristine white.

"So, did you look around and tell me what you see now?" Infinite laughed interrupting the blue one's recollection. It was an undeniably meaning sound, and with the voice, modulator made it even sound more disturbing. Infinite teleported right next to Sonic the right side of his mask just inches away from Sonic's face.

The cold metal was being pressed right up against Sonic's face, for he gritted his teeth. Infinite wasn't a Mobian anymore. The jackal in front of Sonic was a monster that Eggman had created he felt a rough leather gloved hand gripping his spines roughly that his teeth almost bit down on his tongue from the pain.

With a jerk, the masked jackal pulled Sonic to his feet before being shoved from behind by Infinite. They walked down a long hallway until he came to a single room.

"I've brought him, Doctor."

Eggman loomed out of the shadows, his hands folded behind his back. He raised a hand snapping two fingers together with the bright lights illuminating the room. Sonic winced turning his head doing his best to shield his eyes from the harsh glare of the lights. With his hands restrained it wasn't easy. The rotund figure grinned, taking delight in Sonic's discomfort.

Infinite tossed Sonic hard on the ground Sonic wincing the cold steel colliding with his chest. Sonic forced himself to his feet gritting his teeth in pure determination. He wasn't going to show weakness, not in front of his arch enemy.

"So then Sonic how are you enjoying your stay here so far on the Death Egg?" The obese figure grinned from his position. "How would you rate our room service?"

"Heh your food's a little stale, your pillows could stand to a little softer on the head, and you need to teach your pet dog to be a little nicer to your guests."

"Ah, no matter. I'll have to retrain Infinite to be nicer," Eggman replied with sarcasm dripping off his words. "You're going to be here for the rest of your life."

"Sheesh always with the dramatics of Eggman," Sonic said back mockingly. "You haven't won yet."

At his words, the evil mastermind burst out into laughter. The sound of Eggman's laughter was creepy. Infinite's laughter was sinister. Infinite allowed a small cackle to escape from his mask.

The Death Egg. Sonic didn't know why he felt a bit uneasy at the revelation. If he had, to be honest, it would've been his next guess. It seemed that Eggman was obsessed with rebuilding the Death Egg no matter how many times it got destroyed.

"Oh, that's where you're wrong Sonic. I've already won, and whenever you started to wake up, I simply had Orbot and Cubot sedate you."

"So why not kill me?"

"Now there's a thought," The mad scientist replied, "Mostly everyone on Mobius believes that you're dead, except for your little fox friend."

"It's only a matter of time before the rest of he and the rest of your useless friends will be rounded up." Infinite added in sounding smug underneath the mask. "I look forward to showing them the true meaning of fear and pain."

Phew, so Tails is still alive Sonic thought to let out a sigh of relief. He heard that strange noise again. He paused when he heard the slow dripping of water. He jerked his head around to see Chaos looming over him the God of Destruction dripping liquid everywhere.

Sonic knew what was coming next, and he inhaled preparing for the wall of liquid crashed down on him. He tried to breathe he parted his lips ever so slightly seeing small bubbles that contained precious life-giving oxygen slipping away from his lips.

A muffled voice sounded far away from outside his hearing and Chaos parted dropping the aching bruised Hedgehog to the ground. Sonic coughed heavily. Sonic had a throbbing headache. The hedgehog bent over on his hands and knees vomiting up the water he swallowed from his stomach. Sonic felt Eggman's hand grasp him roughly, by the quills. Sonic was forced to make eye contact with Eggman.

"Now then I've finally won," The mad scientist hissed in Sonic's ear. "After every defeat, every humiliation that you've handed to me over the years how does it feel knowing that you failed them?"

Sonic winced feeling Eggman's fingers yanking hard at his wet spines. "Look at you. Mobius's hero lying defeated at my feet. You failed them, you've let them down, and now my empire is months away from rising out of the ashes of the world that used to be Mobius," Eggman dropped Sonic's head to the ground bending down onto one knee. "And when the Eggman Empire's fully risen, I plan to keep you alive, and I will show you to your pathetic friends how you've failed to protect them, and it's your turn to feel the bitter sting of every defeat I have suffered over the years."

Sonic felt Eggman loosen his grip on his quills allowing gravity to allow his head to slam into the cold steel.

Through his ringing ears, he saw Eggman press something on small remote several monitors. The first one showcased the smoldering ruins of Park Avenue Egg pawns were swarming all over the place. Seeing the expressions of fear and panic that were on the fleeing Mobians's faces. Sonic felt a stab of guilt of being forced to watch unable to do a thing to protect anyone. His hands were shaking his fists clenched in anger.

The second Monitor showed Zavok tearing through a small line of defenders at Seaside hill. The Mobians didn't even stand a chance for the Zeti charged at them lashing out with his tail his claws slicing through their throat in a matter of minutes the line of Mobians who'd attempted to fight back were all lying dead on the ground.

No this is all my fault. If only I didn't underestimate Eggman. None of this would be happening. Sonic's thoughts brought up a feeling of guilt from within his heart. Sonic wasn't going to give the rotund figure behind him the sick satisfaction of seeing Sonic break down.

The last of the three monitors showcased several G.U.N troops standing between Metal Sonic and the entrance to Westopolis. The GUN troops opened fire on Metal Sonic's only response was to charge forward through the hail of bullets deflecting off his metallic hull. Sonic closed his eyes shut not wanting to see the inevitable massacre that would follow hearing the screams of the soldiers until the monitors were turned off.

"Take Sonic back to his cell," Eggman's nose wrinkled like he'd smelt something foul in the air. "I think that he could stand to have a bath first. Infinite, why don't you escort our guest to the nearest pool?"

Infinite tightened his grip on the hedgehog's already bruised wrist digging his claws into the peach fur his fingers brushed the surface of the Ruby again.

"How is Shadow working for you again?" Sonic snarled turning his gaze to see a pair of crimson orbs staring right back at him. Shadow took a step forward. "Shadow what about your promise to Maria?"

A sudden hard kick to Sonic's jaw caused his teeth to slam shut nearly biting his tongue in half sending Sonic flying through the air colliding with the ground seeing Shadow hurrying over to where he lay delivering several more brutal kicks to Sonic.

"Don't mention her name, Faker."

"So, the promise you made to Maria means nothing to you then," Sonic said in disgust. "F

With that, both Infinite and Shadow grabbed the hedgehog leading him out of Eggman's lair heading down a small metallic hallway that led to another room. A medium sized pool was in the middle of the room. Sonic struggled even harder to no avail feeling his tormentors tighten their grips on his already bruised skin, for he had no other choice but to hold his breath as he was thrown head first into the pool of water.

Sonic thrashed around almost sinking into the body of water frantically struggling with his hands restrained it was no easy task. His shoes scraped the bottom of the pool as he got his legs underneath him pushing his weight to the top of the surface of the water his head breaking free of the surface coughing harshly. Adrenaline coursing through his body prompted him to make an awkward doggy paddle through the hateful body of liquid.

Swimming with just his feet proved to be a more laborious task then he anticipated. Whenever he tried to make an awkward doggy paddle with his feet towards the steps that led out of the pool, greeted with a kick from either Infinite or Shadow forcing him back into the pool. Due to exhaustion Sonic to his panic sank below the surface of the water. Instinctively Sonic held his breath somehow his feet scraped along the bottom of the pool positioning his feet underneath him using his strength shooting up towards the surface of the water coughing violently exelling the water from his lungs, throat and stomach.

Underneath his mask, Infinite grinned. He was enjoying seeing the thrashing hedgehog struggling to swim with his hands cuffed the look of panic on his face. The jackal laughed a cold malicious sound filled the air.

"Yes, that's it give in to the fear and pain. You're not Mobius' hero. You're just weak and pathetic."

Sonic paused to shoot the jackal a brief venom loaded glare and one at Shadow not making eye contact with him. Sonic had to try to stay alive for now. If he drowned here and now, then all hope of freeing Mobius would be indeed lost.

Three more hours of Sonic's torture passed before Infinite and Shadow carted out a sodden Sonic who coughed harshly still trying to expel the water from his lungs. The two villains had a tight grip on his arms preventing any chance that Sonic had of escaping.

"That was pathetic," Infinite rebuked. "You're just a weak insect."

"Yeah well so are you," Sonic coughed expelling more water from his lungs. "If you had any friends or family, they would be appalled at what you've done."

Sonic felt Infinite stiffen then he felt the jackal slam him up against the wall in a choking hold. Sonic made a feeble tried to pry the jackal's hands from around his throat, but the shock of his torture, being starved and sedated for a whole month had left him to physically weak to fight back against the choking hold of Infinite's grip.

"Friends are nothing more than illusions," Infinite replied. "The only one that you can rely on is yourself."

Sonic was dropped unceremoniously onto the floor of his cell. Sonic gasped the rush of air traveling down his windpipe. He heard the hum of the light blue bars reactivating trapping the hedgehog inside his cell. Sonic glared at Infinite and Shadow observing him from their position outside the hedgehog's prison, the jackal's tail twitched slightly betraying Infinite's good mood.

"He claims that he's the fastest thing alive, but he's such a slow swimmer." Shadow sneered.

"Maria would be ashamed of you!" Sonic called out seeing Shadow narrow his eyes. The Ultimate Lifeform walked over to the cell bars his hands touching the bars a fierce expression was on his face.

"Sooner or later Faker, I'll make you regret speaking her name," Shadow hissed dangerously gripping the bars tightly. "Soon, there will be no hope left for you."

The two of them left leaving Sonic laying on the cold metallic floor. Sonic mentally weak from seeing that hallucination of all of his friends lying dead and dying. He was also physically weak, but deep down in his heart, Sonic felt the small spark of defiance. Sure, for now, he was defeated and weak, but he wasn't going to allow Eggman to break him. Sonic would never give his arch enemy that satisfaction.

Sonic would never lie down and accept defeat. The hedgehog didn't know how he would escape, find his friends, and once he did they would make a stand to take Mobius back from Eggman, and he would set things right.

 _I will escape this place, Eggman._ Sonic vowed to make the promise to himself. _We will win this war._

Sonic tried to roll on his side drawing his arms and legs close to him trying to keep warm from the icy touch of the cold metal seeping in through the floor. His brain sent him messages that he needed to sleep the wet fur dripping wet. His quills were weighed down with the dense liquid. Sonic finally closed his eyes surrendering to rest at last.

* * *

Eggman laughed in glee seeing the broken and bruised form of his enemy lying on the ground. In the scientists' mind seeing his adversary lying on the ground, trembling from the cold trying to curl up to keep himself warm. If the hedgehog's wounds didn't kill him sooner or later starvation and

"Stubborn as always Sonic," Eggman cackled running a pair of fingers over his mustache. "We'll see how long you can last before I break you both physically and mentally."

With a hiss from the mechanical door, Infinite entered the room with Orbot. The small red robot hovered over tapping his boss on the shoulder. "Um excuse me, boss, I hate to interrupt your gloating, but I have some news from our scouts stationed near the Green Hill Zone Prison."

Eggman allowed a sigh of irritation. "Fine just get on with it Orbot."

"Well, then boss it appears that a small Resistance group has broken into the prison facility at Green Hill Zone and well uh..." Orbot trailed off. If robots could swallow nervously, then Orbot was sure that he would see Eggman leveling a glare at him.

"Well then they rescued every single prisoner, and they uh stole," Orbot glanced at seeing Infinite looking at him tilting his head slightly. "You know what."

"What? Sonic has been captured and presumed dead!" Orbot found himself being kicked halfway across the room. "They shouldn't have any hope left at all!"

"It doesn't matter Doctor," Infinite replied calmly adjusting his mask with two of his fingers. "Those insects are trying to stave off their inevitable demise. We still have the power of the Phantom Ruby."

Eggman inhaled profoundly rubbing at his temples with two of his fingers warding off the stress from the news that he'd just received. "The lab in Mystic Jungle has been locked down so they won't be able to access any of the files about the Phantom Ruby in there."

"So, you truly intend to keep Sonic alive?" Infinite asked.

"Of course. I want Sonic to see his precious Mobius become nothing, but ashes and then when we build the Eggman Empire from the ashes, as part of the opening day celebrations I' will kill Sonic and the world will finally submit to my ru- I mean our rule."

Eggman cackled for Infinite wisely chose to stay silent the small part of his mind that hadn't been yet affected by the power of the Phantom Ruby his mind wandering over to what Orbot had mentioned the thing stolen from the Green Hill Prison.

"Oh, I'm not concerned about the Resistance I'll have to keep an eye on them at first, but if they continue to get in my way, then the power of the Phantom Ruby will subdue them once and for all!"

"So they are mere trash that will soon yield to the power of the Phantom Ruby," Infinite said with audible glee. "Everyone on Mobius will soon bow down to me!." The purplish glow surrounded Infinite briefly. Eggman simply nodded in agreement watching the jackal with a wary expression on his face. _Already Infinite's starting_ to become _unruly. I may need to find a way to restrain him._ Eggman vowed to himself that he would find a way to keep Infinite under his control.

* * *

 _Author's note_

 _And that concludes chapter seven._

 _Oh boy, this was a tough one to write. I had so many ideas for Sonic's torture that I spent quite a few hours mulling over which one to use. I eventually settled on the idea of Sonic seeing his friends lying there either dead or dying since that would hit Sonic the hardest since he does care for his friends and I'd imagine that seeing his friends die would be the worst form of torture for him to experience._

 _Also considering Sonic's fear of water, I also went with that idea since that was the idea I was going to go with from the start. Things will get better for Sonic later on in the story._

 _To those wondering why Infinite is working so well with the construct of Shadow, but at this point in Infinite's mind, he has already bested Shadow in combat, so he feels that he is superior to Shadow and sees him as beneath his notice. In short, he doesn't care, but that's going to change when he's going to encounter the real Shadow once more._

 _Now on the note of Silver. Since SEGA can't seem to decide if the Rivals series is canon or not, I'm pretty sure it is though. I'm going to treat this as the first time that Sonic and his friends have met Silver. When Silver was announced to be in Forces, I was excited because this was the third time that we had Sonic, Shadow, and Silver in the same main series game since 06 and Generations. I was a little disappointed that he didn't interact much with Sonic and Shadow and that's why Sonic didn't refer to Silver as his name when he rushed over to check to make sure that Silver was okay._

 _As always Thoughts/ suggestions and reviews are always appreciated, and I will back with the next chapter._


	8. I'll fight as I always have

_Author's note Wow I can't believe that this Story has ten follows now. Just thank you all so much. I also have to thank not just the people who are following and for having favorited this story. I also have to thank my reviewers as well. Also, I have to say thanks for all of the support this story's has gotten in such a short time._

 _bayj Just a huge thank you and also for being here from day one. You're the best._

 _Alexandria Prime. Thanks and don't worry things will get better for Sonic and that chapter will come, and I'll do my best to get it here soon as I can. I spent a couple of hours brainstorming so many ideas for Sonic's torture until I eventually settled on the Sonic's friends dying. I wanted to hit Sonic hard where it would hurt him the most. It was the idea that came to my mind._

 _TGN Thanks. In all seriousness, I do hope that we get a scenario where Sonic and Tails are forced to fight each other. You'll be seeing the Resistance soon, and I do plan to expand on the other members of the Resistance._

 _SpiderDom 321 Thanks man and you'll find out who the mystery jackal is soon. ;)_

 _Warning One dark scene, but that's it._

 _No more delays let's get on with chapter eight._

* * *

The dense air in the cold lab felt heavy and still. The single droplet of water slowly began to drip down from a rusted old pipe. There were no other life forms that lay in the middle of the lab the only sound that was a few drops of water dripping from the edge of a rusted old pipe on the ceiling leaking down on the unconsciousness dark figure that lay spread-eagled on the lab floor.

 _Not even Sonic can stop me now!_

 _Shadow, I beg of you give them a chance to be happy._

 _Shadow, you are the world's last hope. Please wake up._

With a jolt of adrenaline crimson eyes snapped open in shock. Shadow immediately got to his feet, adrenaline coursing through his veins. The agent breathed heavily. He scanned the area his brain sluggishly trying to piece together, how he got here.

Thankfully, the headache that he'd experienced before he'd passed out had mercifully stopped. Shadow shook his head from side-to-side feeling nothing, but irritation. He hated it when he couldn't remember anything that had happened. He relaxed noticing that he was in a lab, there didn't seem to be any threats in the vicinity, and Shadow became less tense, and he could at least try to focus where exactly his location was.

He inhaled mentally counting to ten as Rouge told him to do whenever he was stressed. He began to concentrate on filling in the blanks of his shattered memory feeling the pieces falling into place.

It all began with that mission to Mystic Jungle. Then we were investigating the doctor's new weapon. That masked Jackal, Lost contact with Rouge, and Omega was ripped to pieces in the Arsenal Pyramid by Infinite. Shadow looked down at his wrist expecting to see his communicator, but he recalled that Infinite had destroyed it and he would never forget hearing Rouge's panicked voice, the black and silver boot came crashing down on the communicator shattering it into many fragments.

There had been a lot of noise. Maria was scolding him for killing those jackals, the images of the nine jackals surrounding him, a damaged Omega stomping towards him, saying that he wasn't weak and the scornful expression on Rouge's face. The next question on his mind was how long he'd been unconsciousness. Was it a week? A month? Years? Had it even been a Century?

"Or maybe it was another 50 years," Shadow said wryly to himself, his nose, inhaling deeply a scent of decay hung in the heavy air. Shadow raced at supersonic speed towards the source of the smell. "What is that smell?"

Shadow took a couple of deep breaths nearly gagging on the scent, it almost smelt like death and decay. The smell was getting stronger, and Shadow entered the room, turning his head slightly spying several tables in the middle of the room. Upon closer inspection Shadow instantly wished that he hadn't. The source of the smell came from five decomposing bodies lying strapped to the table with a thick belt across their caved in waists.

Shadow fought back the urge to vomit thankful that he'd had nothing to eat. The bile threatened to rise in his throat the urge to vomit was growing stronger. It was best to leave this room now. Shadow gagging on the smell of death and decay in the room reached back for his Chaos Emerald only for his fingers to brush the empty air in the place where his Chaos Emerald usually rested.

The hedgehog clenched his teeth coming to the conclusion Eggman must've taken his Chaos Emerald while he was unconsciousness. Shadow saw a flash of deep blue spying the Chaos Emerald that was on a small table next to the last of the decomposing jackals. Shadow then noticed something shimmering against of the jackal's chests.

Shadow walked over to the jackal that looked the least decomposed peering closely at the strange magenta gem embedded in the jackal's chest. It was dull, no waves of energy pulsed from it. It almost looks like the unknown gem that Infinite had in his chest. Shadow hurried on reaching down to grab the Chaos Emerald is resting on the table. He plucked it off the table feeling the reassuring weight of the gem in his hand, swiftly tucking it away in his quills making sure that it was secure.

A small notice stuck to the side of the table caught Shadow's eye. He paused to read it. The note was slightly crumpled indicating that Eggman barely had time to dispose of his handiwork. The handwriting was Eggman's there was no doubt about it.

 _Subjects 1-5 failed to bond with the Phantom Ruby prototypes. However, one of the jackals wasn't deceased during the experiment but perished, anyway._

 _Subjects six, seven, nine and ten were successful. Subject 8 Infinite successful. The jackals who survived the experiments with the Phantom Ruby are hidden away in secret locations._

 _The Phantom Ruby can create illusions that affect a person's virtual reality. I've been busy already making prototypes, and the finalized perfected prototype I infused to Infinite._

 _I have to wonder if the prototypes need to be destroyed to stop them from falling into the wrong hands._

"Phantom Ruby Prototypes?"Shadow said aloud.

Shadow recalled seeing the magenta gem that was glowing and pulsing in Infinite's' chest. The Phantom Ruby could that be the name of that strange gem that somehow could cause illusions?

The longer that Shadow stayed here then nothing was going to be done to stop both Eggman and Infinite initiating their plan. He dimly recalled being jostled, then voices where one of them had been Infinite's voice disagreeing with Eggman on something.

 _I think that the Doctor wanted to imprison me, but I guess that Infinite defied him._ Shadow thought to himself.

For now, Shadow wanted to get out of this place and leave these decomposing bodies behind. Shadow activated his hover skates breaking into a supersonic run rapidly exiting the lab and its grim contents behind him. First, he had to find Rouge, and Omega well, whatever was left of the last of the E Series Robot. They were the only two people in all of Mobius that he could call friends. He was intent on making sure that both were okay.

Shadow raced through the dense undergrowth of Mystic Jungle. After seeing those decomposing bodies, the fresh air felt good to his nostrils. He felt the bile lessening in his throat. The memory of seeing those bodies strapped to the tables left to rot it would plague the lab with the smell of death and decay. The sight of those dead jackals lying there would haunt Shadow for the rest of his life.

* * *

Shadow traveled for several hours seeing the sharp metallic gleam of the Arsenal Pyramid rising into the sky. Shadow kicked up clouds of desert sand skidding to a stop near the pyramid. There were barely any robots here.

He counted three of them at the most, and the Pyramid was empty. There were deep indents in the sand as though something massive had walked through the sand disturbing it. What made Shadow uneasy was that there were more of the big tracks like there had been more of the giant mechs were recently completed, and it looked like they were already being deployed to wreak havoc on the world.

It was where Omega was destroyed and where he'd lost contact with Rouge. Shadow felt a surge of anger beginning to build up in him. He was becoming pissed now. It wasn't only that Infinite had crossed a line by using an illusion of Maria against him. Just thinking about how callously Infinite had used the memory of his best friend like that.

He felt his rage beginning to build up the sound of an Egg pawn chagrining up its blaster caught his attention. Shadow jerked his head to see that several more Egg pawns that were doing the same thing.

Shadow charged forward curling up spin dashing destroying the robots speeding on ahead. He skidded to a stop feeling that same uneasy feeling creeping down his spine.

 _If Rouge and Omega were here, they're not now. And there's no sign of Sonic either._

Shadow whipped out the Chaos Emerald Whispering Chaos control warping away from the destroyed robots continuing his search for the two people that mattered the most to him and also to get some answers as to what happened when he was unconscious.

* * *

In a flash of light, Shadow landed in the square in Park Avenue. He looked around, feeling his jaw drop in horror. Shadow immediately began to cough on the thick black choking smoke leaking from a building the last of the flames licking at the destroyed brickwork.

Thick clouds of black smoke rose up from the destroyed buildings. The smoke was rising into the air, partially obscuring the late afternoon sun. Most of the buildings were damaged. Egg pawns patrolled the streets searching for any citizens that had been foolish enough to remain. Park Avenue formerly had been known as one of the most hospitable towns. It was now nothing more than a war zone now. It was well known for its nightclubs; its vast variety of flower gardens. The population was made up of three thousand Mobians. However, becuase of Eggman's attack, it was now practically a ghost town.

"Help us! Help us, please!"

Shadow's ears twitched picking up the faint cries of distress on the breeze. Shadow gritted his teeth seeing several Buzz Bombers flying in overhead and several purple robots that greatly resembled Ostriches racing over to the small group of Mobians that sat huddled in a little group. Several G.U.N soldiers stood between the Mobians and the oncoming robots, raising their weapons firing off at the robots the empty bullet casings fell to the ground.

"Guess I'll have to get involved then."

Shadow broke into a run curling up into a spin dash slamming into the robotic hull of the first ostrich robot before homing attacking several more destroying them effortlessly. In a matter of moments, Shadow stood amongst the robotic wreckage turning to face the crowd.

Their reactions weren't ones that he was expecting. Shadow's ears twitched when he heard the sound the weapons pointed directly at him.

"What the hell?"

Shadow scowled ignoring the command for him to put his hands up in the air. This situation was not typical. He was on the same side just like the G.U.N soldiers. Now they had their weapons pointed at him. The slight anger Shadow felt earlier began to build again, feeling the energy of the Chaos Emerald pouring into him.

"This is the Heavy Dog unit. Shadow has been sighted in Park Avenue," The leader of the unit spoke into his communicator hearing the small burst of static on the other end. "Permission requested to shoot on sight."

"Copy that Heavy Dog unit. Evacuate the citizens first."

The leader of the squadron cut off his transmission, giving a signal to two other G.U.N soldiers, indicating to get the citizens out of harm's way.

"It's the traitor! We're all going to die!" A few of the Mobians that had been sitting huddled in a circle broke away from the group making a run for it. The Ultimate Lifeform was jostled continuously by the fleeing Mobians. Shadow made a well-timed lunge for a black wolf gripping his left shoulder in a tight grip.

"Tell me what the damn hell is going on." Shadow hissed seeing the look of pure terror in the wolf's blue irises.

The wolf trembled to look around in terror before an expression of defiance on his face. "Don't play dumb with us. You were there. You aided the Doctor in defeating Sonic along with this red demon monster, a water creature, Metal Sonic and a strange jackal in a mask who somehow summoned the other three."

Infinite! Wait, so the Phantom Ruby can also create fakes. He has some damn nerve.

How dare that Infinite would do something like this. Shadow growled ever so slightly tightening his already bruising grip on the wolf's shoulder. He couldn't even remember the last time that he'd ever felt this angry. The last time was when Maria had died, and he'd willingly set down his path of revenge to avenge her. Shadow took in a deep breath, releasing the young wolf's shoulder who took it as his cue to make a run for it breaking away from the crowd vanishing into the shadows of the nearest alleyway.

"Open fire! Subdue Shadow before he harms anyone else!"

Shadow broke into a run the hail of energy blasts striking the cobblestones sending up small fragments of pavement. He'd already gotten the answers that he needed. He put on a burst of supersonic speed hearing the G.U.N troops racing after him. He allowed a small smirk. It was a near futile effort. There was no one on Mobius that could keep pace with him well except for Sonic.

He remembered with a pang that the two of them would race often and there were many times that it ended in a draw even though Sonic would claim that he won just by an inch and now he was gone. The harsh reality was that Eggman had won and Sonic was defeated. Panting slightly Shadow arrived at the outskirts of Park Avenue having left the GUN soldiers far behind. He came to a stop some distance out of the town removing the Emerald from its hiding place in his quills.

"Chaos Control!"

Shadow let out a low weary sigh coming to the edge of Westopolis. The moon was high in the sky signaling that it was close to midnight. G.U.N's central headquarters was stationed here in Westopolis. Shadow's heart was slightly racing from the near miss in Park Avenue. It wasn't just that G.U.N and all of Mobius thought that he was a traitor.

The large city was in the same state as Park Avenue the G.U.N HQ was a smoking wreck. Everything Shadow once knew was gone now with several massive mechs rampaging in the area. Several bodies of G.U.N troopers and Mobians lay dead sprawled in the streets. The sight caused Shadow to lower his head, letting out a low, sad sigh. He wasn't practically close to any members of G.U.N well apart from Rouge and Omega, but he knew that somewhere in Mobius there would be families mourning the loss of their loved ones.

"Infinite's not here," Shadow said to himself, looking around the destroyed city. "I'll have to search elsewhere then."

With a whisper of Chaos Control, Shadow vanished.

* * *

The cold desert sands were the first thing that Shadow's feet came into contact with the sounds of screams filled the air. He was jostled by a pair of foxes who ran for their lives expressions of terror were on their faces. Shadow noticed a sign that said welcome to Sh, scrawled hastily on it. Egg pawns were running through the desert streets firing off in random directions terrorizing the citizens even further.

It was clear that Infinite was already here. He saw the gleam of the silver mask reflecting the moon's light on it. Shadow allowed a small, grim smile. It was clear that the jackal hadn't noticed him yet. He was too caught up in causing destruction the cold laughter that echoed from within the mask. A series of distant explosions struck the homes in the small desert town. Shadow grabbed the nearest fleeing citizen a young jackal child spinning her around to face him making eye contact with her.

"Is Infinite here?"

"Yes, but so are you!"

The statement caught Shadow of by surprise for a heavyweight slammed into the side of Shadow's head, knocking him off his feet, sending him sprawling onto the sands sending a small cloud of dust up into the air. The jackal pup took this as her cue to flee. Shadow slowly got to his feet a glare already forming on his face coming face to face with himself?

"No way how is that possible?"

Shadow looked at his replica who moved forward slowly. Shadow began to feel even more pissed off, but at the same time, he felt confused and to his disgust, he felt a little flattered. What was in front of Shadow wasn't one of the infamous Shadow Androids that Eggman had used to trick him into thinking that he'd been an android. The replica charged forward Shadow ran forward to meet the copy of himself for at the last second it ducked down to avoid his kick to his midsection knocking the wind out of Shadow.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow swung his hand out several spears of Chaos energy. The spears struck the replica shearing off part of its arm, sending a shower of red cubes and a small trickle of blood into the air.

The replica was charging at him now ignoring the stream of blood and red cubes leaking from its new wound. Shadow gritted his teeth. His eyes tracked every movement the replica made. He noted that even though the near-perfect copy of Shadow was injured, it was still determined to keep on fighting just like him. The two black and red blurs charge against each other for a few of the residents stopped briefly to gawk at the scene coming to a stop muttering amongst themselves. A pair of them a jackal and the maned wolf came racing over with spears and a variety of other weapons keeping a wary eye on Infinite.

Shadow caught his replica in a flurry of kicks and punched, sending it crashing to the ground before it began to glitch out breaking apart into a shower of the red cubes rushing away into nothingness.

"So, all this time a replica's been dragging my name through the mud _,"_ Shadow said quietly. "That's the power of the Phantom Ruby, it can create illusions. That means Eggman's weapon is more powerful then our intel believes it to be."

Shadow heard a dark chuckle snapping him out of his ruminations turning around to face the masked jackal panting slightly for breath his sides rising and shrinking with every breath he took. He was starting to become exhausted again, but this time he wasn't going to allow himself to be beaten by Infinite once more.

"Well, we meet Shadow again," Infinite chuckled. " I see that you're still, as weak as ever."

"Is that stone the Phantom Ruby?" Shadow asked deciding to get to the point. "You're going to pay for what you've done to Omega and Rouge."

"That is none of your concern," Infinite said in a bored tone.

Shadow rushed towards Infinite who swung out his arms a rush of red energy engulfed Shadow who collapsed to the ground images already swarming his mind. The first images showed Eggman's army invading Park Avenue, Sonic's brutal beating at the hands of Infinite and his replicas. Tails being forced to flee with Knuckles and a white hedgehog that he didn't know. Sonic being subjected to even more torture, Eggman's armies beginning to attack smaller towns. The citizens of various towns fleeing for their lives. The rest of Sonic's friends lying dead in the middle of the streets.

Infinite's laughter rang in the background, and the sound was still as disturbing as ever.

The second set of images showcased Omega lying in a broken pile of robotic debris, Rouge bleeding and bruised limping through a desolate street, Sonic is lying dead in his cell. Shadow felt the pain roaring his mind, the images cramming themselves playing over and over again. He briefly looked at Infinite who under the mask was sporting a look of sadistic glee. There was only one option that Shadow had left before he died from the mental stress of the illusions.

He reached up grabbing the Chaos Emerald feeling the gem act as his only outside link to this nightmare. The smooth surface of the gem reassured him, the black hedgehog drew on what little strength he had left to

"Chaos Spear!" The spears of energy pierced through the illusions one of them struck Infinite on the arm breaking of his laughter causing him to growl seeing Shadow forcing himself to his feet.

"It appears that I have underestimated you," Infinite said, tilting his head to face Shadow. "It's only been a week since Sonic's death."

The sounds of the small angry crowd of Mobians turned their attention towards Shadow the leader a fox uttered a distant of a shout clearly saying get Shadow, the irate crowd raced across the sands with their weapons raised in their hands. Infinite cast one last glance of contempt at Shadow

"You're not worth the effort to finish off. We'll settle this another time."

With those words, Infinite adjusted his mask back, taking off into the sky, leaving Shadow to face the angry mob. This day keeps getting worse. Shadow raised the Chaos Emerald high into the air.

"Chaos Control!"

In a flash of light, the Ultimate Lifeform was gone, forcing the residents of Saharais to shield their eyes from the bright flash. When it died down Shadow was gone for now they had to deal with the Egg pawns swarming into the streets for it was another fight for the battle-weary residents to endure.

* * *

Green Hill Zone.

It was a relief to crash into the sweet grass that made up Green Hill Zone as Shadow lay in it too exhausted to move. All he wanted to do was sleep and regain his strength. His head still hurt from the rush of the images that the Phantom Ruby had shown him, but a small part refused to believe that Sonic was dead. Other troubling thoughts were on his mind though. Rouge was missing. Omega destroyed, G.U.N was spread thin trying to deal with the mass outbreak of Eggman's robots. The whole world thinks that I've sided with Eggman again.

Shadow slowly pushed himself to his feet, ignoring his aching muscles. He would need to find somewhere to hide while he recuperated from the exhausting day that he'd if the world was determined to see him as its enemy the feeling was mutual. He looked up to the skies a small frown lining his face, his crimson orbs looking up at the starry skies. The moon was getting lower in the heavens the stars were beginning to fade away the light, soft pre-dawn colors creeping across the sky.

"If the world chooses to be my enemy, then I'll fight as I always have," Shadow said to himself. "That's a promise, and I will find Rouge and Omega."

The Ultimate Lifeform raced on ahead on his own once more through Green Hill Zone. _One day I will make Infinite pay for using Maria like that against me and for_ _what he did to Omega and Rouge._ Shadow vowed to himself. It was a promise that Shadow would keep no matter what happened next to him even if everyone on Mobius viewed him as a traitor, working for Eggman, Shadow silently looked up to the skies a tight frown lining his face fists clenched tightly at his sides longing for the day he would land a punch against Infinite for using an illusion of his best friend against him.

* * *

 _Authors' note._

 _Well, that was a long chapter over 3000 words and in this chapter I wanted to address the issue for what Shadow would be doing for those six months. The game never even bothered to touch on the subject itself. There's a hint as to who the mystery jackal and the original plan for this chapter were very different then what it was going to be._

 _The reason that why Shadow's not a prisoner in the Death Egg is because Infinite went behind Eggman's back and had him taken in the lab in Mystic Jungle before it was locked down._

 _The original plan for this chapter was going to have Shadow trapped as a prisoner in the Death Egg. The reason that I didn't go through with the idea was that he would've encountered Sonic which would lead Sonic to realize that Eggman was using a false construct of Shadow it would've been too soon for me to reveal that plot point._

 _Considering that we're over at 30,000 words already that this is going to be a long ride and things are going to get even crazier from here on out._

 _Since Shadow is a lone wolf I could see him not joining the resistance right away, and I know that the timeline was a bit swerved in this one, but the primary focus was on Shadow. Shadow's one of my favorite characters in the_ _Like I said in a previous chapter G.U.N would have a role to play and they're going to keep popping up in more chapters down the line. I still find it odd that they weren't in Forces._

 _As always any form of feedback, such as opinions/ thoughts and reviews are welcome, and the next chapter will be up on Wednesday. I will talk to you guys then._


	9. Enter Gadget

_Author's note, first of all, I want to apologize for the slight delay. I had a family gathering, and I didn't get much time to sit down and write, so things got a little hectic on my end. I have zero intentions of abandoning this story, and I will see it through to the end no matter what happens._

 _As always I have to thank Alexandria Prime, SpiderDom321, KyledKa, TheGameNguyener, Miki-Chan13, and bajy for leaving a review on this story. I'm glad that all of you are enjoying the story and all I can say is about the next upcoming chapter is the Resistance will still continue to grow even stronger and a new member may be joining their ranks._

 _Lastly, this story has twelve follows and favorites. A big thank you to the people who have faved and followed this story._

 _Without further ado here's chapter nine._

 _Disclaimer I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog since it's copyrighted to Sega._

* * *

Knuckles caught the warm pre-dawn air currents allowing the echidna to glide back his long trek from Angel Island after checking on the Master Emerald to ensure that it was still in its hiding place in the Hidden Palace Zone. He always felt a stab of guilt every time he had to leave giant Emerald unprotected on its pedestal. He was shirking his duties, and he hated himself for it. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have been away from the Master Emerald for so long. With the world under Eggman's control remaining on his island hadn't been an option.

 _It's been almost six months since this war started_. Knuckles' thoughts bitterly reminded the Guardian. _How much longer can you leave the Master Emerald unguarded?_

The most common sight was the swarms of robots running amok in the desolated villages and small bands of citizens running around on foot desperate to hide due to Eggman's cruel reign. There was nowhere safe to hide anymore. Despite the Resistance's best efforts to fight back, they were losing ground fast since Eggman had now conquered ninety-five percent of the world.

Small statues of Eggman were everywhere. The mad doctor had taken over the news stations broadcasting announcements to come and join the Eggman Empire with the false promises that any members of the Resistance would have a bed and three luxury meals a day.

As for Sonic, there was no word if he was still alive. Knuckles shook his head. It was no secret that the enmity between Sonic and Eggman had gone on for a long time and every time that Eggman had suffered a defeat at Sonic's hands his rage grew.

 _That's the number one priority on our list._ Knuckles thought to himself. _Rescuing Sonic if he's even still alive that is._

Knuckles shuddered slightly. He could only imagine what horrors Eggman chose to inflict on Sonic. The lack of news from their spy on the Death Egg for the last few months was disheartening. It was near Four Am in the morning when Knuckles arrived at the entrance to the Bunker tapping on the metal door, seeing Rouge's eyes looking at him through the slit with a small coy smile on her face.

"It's such a shame that you don't have that big beautiful gem with you, honey."

"Let me in Rouge."

"My that's no way to speak to a lady."

"I'm not even sure that you qualify as a lady at all you've tried to steal the Master Emerald in the past."

"Well, you do tend to think with your fists instead of your head."

"Just try to steal the Master Emerald, and I'll show you my fists."

"I think that once this whole war's over, I may just do that."

Knuckles broke into a run his fists raised unaware of Rouge vanishing hearing the door open leading Knuckles to trip suddenly crashing down to the ground. He looked up hearing the bat's heels clacking against the surface. He didn't have to look up, imagining the small smirk on Rouge's face at having the upper hand over Knuckles.

"You're still as gullible as ever."

"Well, at least Omega's fixed now and you never change," Knuckles and Rouge made their way into the base. "You're still not allowed on Angel Island, I won't let the Master Emerald fall into your grubby hands."

The Guardian could tell that Rouge was distracted. Her thoughts were on Shadow. He'd suspected the reason Rouge was gently teasing him was to get her mind off the fact Shadow betrayed them all. The black hedgehog wasn't exactly a heroic figure, but to suddenly be working for Eggman, due to Rouge's friendship with Shadow it did earn her suspicious glances from a few of the more wary members of the Resistance. Knuckles knew the spy was still holding out a faint hope that it was a false Shadow.

"So how have you been coping with Shadow's betrayal?"

"It's been difficult," Rouge's eyes watered slightly with unshed tears letting out a small sigh. "It just doesn't make sense! Why would he break his promise to Maria? I thought that Omega and I were his two closest friends and I've been lying awake at night, questioning why he would do this to us?!"

With a forced sob, the bat, kicked out at the wall, leaving a dent in it, ignoring the pain from her stubbed toes not even caring that her mascara was running down her cheeks. The echidna paused, not sure on how to respond. He had noticed that most of the members of the Resistance were slightly wary about Rouge because the bat was stubborn on the fact that Shadow hadn't betrayed them.

The silence hung between them was almost choking. The only sound that the guardian heard were the echoes of their footsteps on the hard floor. The guardian wasn't used to be a leader and to have some many lives resting in the palm of his hands. Knuckles felt the weight of leadership on his shoulders, full well knowing if he made a single mistake, innocent Mobians could end up dead.

"G.U.N believes that Sonic is dead," Rouge said softly in a sullen tone. "And it's not just G.U.N; the whole world believes that Sonic is dead. I admire your dedication Knuckles, but how can we win a war?"

"We have to try Rouge. I meant it in the speech I made."

Silver and the Chaotix were going over plans for their next mission with Charmy flying overhead chatting excitedly to Silver who looked up saying something that was too far away for Knuckles to hear.

"So, Silver is from the future, and he claims that a great calamity is going to come," Rouge said thoughtfully.

"All of Eggman's robots will be eradicated! I will make a nice pelt out of Infinite's fur!"

Knuckles heard the distant loud voice of Omega in the training range followed by the sound of several machine guns going off at once with Omega's loud voice echoing through the base. Tails had done a fantastic job repairing Omega to a combat standard. The young fox informed both Knuckles and Rouge repairing Omega had been a simple task but upon reactivation, Omega asked to be pointed in the direction of the training room where he spent most of his time destroying crude dummies of Eggman's robots.

Tails sat at a desk busily fixing several Wispons. Sahara had been busy tending to the wounded for the maned wolf had bags underneath her eyes from the exhaustion of spending late nights helping to perform operations, and there had been moments where they'd found her passed out on a small bench fast asleep exhausted from caring for so many patients. Chaser had proven his worth the Resistance quite a few times. The coyote was scrappy to put it gently; there were times he'd even gotten in trouble, and needed to be rescued by someone else.

Currently, Chaser was involved in a debate with Raven their loud voices carrying down the hallway, the two Mobians entered the room, loudly boasting about who took down more of Eggman's robots on the last mission they'd gone out together.

"Oh, please I took out more robots than you did on the last raid, and you know it!" Raven said

Raven grinned in response to Chaser's statement. "Ah, no I took out three more than you did, and it's not my fault that I had to come and save your butt."

The young jackal looked much healthier ever since he had been rescued from the Green Hill Zone prison. The jackal had put on some weight his arms and legs no longer looked like twigs. Part of his chest fur had been shaved away to make room for the weird gem fragment in his chest. Something that Raven still refused to tell him what it was, but he'd proved himself useful that was all that mattered to Knuckles.

"One day you'll need to get some answers about that gem fragment in his chest," Rouge said to Knuckles. "It's going to be a shame if we have to destroy such a beautiful gem though."

Knuckles parted his mouth slightly to disagree with Rouge when he noticed Amy rising from her seat pressing a hand to her earpiece a look of fear and unease was on her face. Several other Mobians glanced at the pink hedgehog keeping her hand pressed against her earpiece a concerned expression on her face listening intently to a voice relaying information to her.

The news set off a frenzy of activity in the Resistance Base as Knuckles sprang into action. Amy set her headpiece down grabbing her trusty Piko Piko Hammer, several Mobains grabbed their Wispons, Chaser and Raven pushed their way to the front of the crowd eager

"Alright, then Amy, Chaser, and Raven you're with me along with Gamma Squad." Knuckles said. "We can't waste any more time. Everyone else, I need all of you to stay here in case Eggman sends even more robots to attack Sunset Heights."

The small group exited the Bunker in a rush, beginning the long journey on foot from Sunset Heights Knuckles led the way trudging along a dirt road the only sounds accompanying him were his allies determined to prevent RedGate City from falling to Eggman's army. The guardian forced himself to look ahead focusing on the current task at hand, he had to prove he would prove he would become a great leader of the Resistance, for now shouldering the burden of leadership would be his duty for now, until the end of this war.

* * *

Eggman sat back in his chair a sinister grin on his face watching a monitor. On the video feed, he saw Zavok landing several blows on Sonic who made a feeble attempt to fight back only for the Zeti to kick him, sending the once blue hedgehog crashing into the wall staggering to his feet gasping out in pain. The hedgehog pushed himself up, before slumping back down to the ground panting in exhaustion.

"Sonic's done well to last this long, but I've had my fun and the time has come to say farewell."

Eggman slowly pushed himself out of his chair, casting another look at the video feed his expression unreadable. Sonic had been a worthy opponent over the years to the evil mastermind, but seeing him crumpled on the ground, it brought a small twinge of satisfaction to Eggman seeing his adversary for many years lying defeated at his feet. Eggman longed for the day when Sonic's spirit would finally be broken.

"Come to think of it," Eggman said. "I've been so busy with being a benevolent ruler that I wonder how Shadow's faring."

Eggman snapped his fingers summoning Cubot. Orbot was off busy checking the map screen of Mobius which had been mostly conquered by Eggman indicated by the area map covered in red with the Eggman Empire logo grinning back from the screen Orbot hummed a tune. While Cubot was sitting off by himself gazing blankly at the ceiling tiles.

"Cubot give me a status update on Shadow."

"Who?"

"Shadow you know he's a black and red Hedgehog, Ultimate Lifeform. He was bested by Infinite in the Arsenal Pyramid, and is supposed to be here on the Death Egg as a prisoner," Eggman growled the question. "My question is where the hell is he?"

"I honestly have no idea who that is."

Orbot came hovering into the room, taking in the sight of his irate creator. The robot wrung his fingers nervously hearing the low cough coming from his creator looking up to make eye contact with Eggman tapping his fingers against his armrest impatiently.

"Shadow was never brought aboard to the Death Egg," Orbot said. "In fact, Infinite thought that there would be no point to having him as a prisoner and dumped him in your old lab in the Mystic Jungle boss."

Eggman let out a low growl causing both of his robots to flinch, the man lashed out at Orbot slapped him a couple of times causing Orbot to shake his head from the unwanted assault. Eggman pushed himself out of his chair the news of Infinite's disobedience put him in a bad mood, he'd willingly given the jackal the key to ultimate power, even though it was a copy of the real Phantom Ruby.

"Get Infinite on the line now," Eggman demanded. "I'm going to have words with that jackal for his disobedience."

* * *

Redgate City. One of the most significant coastal towns bordering Metropolis and Mystic Jungle. A quarter of a million Mobians lived here. Their biggest exports were seafood and clothing, and Mobians came from miles around to marvel at the vast bridge that stretched across the sea as it was the highlight of many road trips. The general agreement was that it was the most significant tourist hot spot in all of Mobius.

However, times in this peaceful city were about to change. Eggman's takeover of Mobius had lasted for just five months at this point, and now there were whispers on the wind that Eggman's mechanical army was on the move heading towards Redgate city. Rumors floated around Red Gate that the masked monster known only as Infinite would be leading the attack. The news sent a wave of panic throughout the city as Mobians hastily grabbed whatever they could carry.

Some of those rioters, however, joined the fleeing crowd not wanting to get captured by the mechanical army. They blended in with the crowd hastily leaving town being forced to leave most of their possessions behind, small satchels of food were slung across their shoulders

However, for Gadget the wolf it was the first time that he would cross paths with Infinite and it was on the day his friends died.

It was the start of a new day as Gadget the wolf pushed back the blanket slowly rubbing away the sleep from his eyes, reaching out for his glasses pushing them on his snout. He sat up for a few minutes hearing the dull hum of his phone buzzing ever so slightly on the table.

"Oh no, not this early." Gadget muttered slowly picking up the phone. His half-awake mind barely registered the time at 6:30 AM.

 _Gadget it's me, Russell._

 _Listen. I don't want to startle you, and I know that it's a crappy start to your day, but I received a tip from one of our scouts that Infinite's leading a small battalion of Eggman forces and they plan to take Redgate City this morning at ten am._

 _I know what you're thinking there's no way that you said you were going to get involved with the Resistance, but please we need you._

 _I've contacted the Resistance, and they're sending reinforcements._

 _Meet us at the square in an hour. We can't let Redgate City fall to Eggman._

 _Russell._

"Oh no." Gadget breathed out the last traces of sleep leaving his mind. He was fully awake now hurriedly typing out a response to Russell. The brown dog had become one of the very first friends that he'd made ever since he'd moved to Redgate City just over a year ago.

Gadget typed out his response on the phone his fingers flying over the keys.

 _Russell, I know that I'm not a part of the Resistance, but I'll do everything I can to help. I'll meet you guys at the square in ten minutes._

 _We won't let Red Gate City fall to Eggman's forces._

 _Gadget._

Gadget sent off the message hurrying down the stairs of his small home, grabbing the utility belt that was hanging off a small hook. Near the door that led out to the bustling city. He paused, looking back at a small picture that hung over the door. Next, to him a stood a gray wolf with a light white muzzle, turquoise eyes, and the only thing that marked him as a hybrid was the small black stripes and the fact his tail was slightly longer than a wolf's tail with a black tip.

"Mikhail." Gadget breathed out sadness laced his voice. It was just two months ever since his older half-brother had been kidnapped in an Eggman raid. Gadget would never forget the look of terror in his sibling's eyes as he was carried off by several Egg Pawns.

"Gadget run for it!" Mikhail shouted being dragged by a couple of Egg Pawns. "Don't worry about me! Please save yourself!"

Gadget sighed his gaze lingered briefly on a small picture frame which showcased him with someone else for both had their arms slung around each other with smiles on their faces. Gadget couldn't linger on the past now.

The spring air hit him in the face the early morning sun was high in the sky. The first thing that Gadget noticed was several civilians rushing about looks of fear were on their faces for a few brave souls were remaining from the watchtower, long rifle like weapons clashed in their hands since they were ready to pick off any robots that came their way.

"Gadget!" Russell hailed him from the middle of the square for Gadget hurried over to where his friends were standing feeling the weight of the white Wispon pressed into his hands. Gadget felt his heart sink. He couldn't really couldn't fight alongside his friends

"Russell look we've been over this. I really can't do this I've never known how to handle a Wispon. I'm not part of the Resistance."

"I told you he wouldn't do it."

Gadget felt his heart sink feeling someone bump into him; he turned slightly to meet the gaze of Song. The purple bird shot him a glare her beak curled in a scowl. She turned back towards the rest of his friends. Out of all of them, Song had always been the most critical of him, ever since he'd joined up with them.

"Of course, he can do it stop being a wet blanket Aria."

The sound of a pair of G.U.N fighter jets roared in the distance as they soared over Red Gate City for their target was the robot army that would come swarming through the city gates leaving G.U.N and the few other resistance members to engage them in combat. For some weird reason, there was edgy music playing in the air, which confirmed that Infinite was indeed here.

"There he is! Just follow the trail of edgy teen music!"

"Eh, it's not a bad song I kind of like it." Gadget said, earning a look of disgust from Song.

Gadget raced forward with the Resistance members hearing the alarms blaring out across the square. The first thing he saw was Infinite with his back turned to the group music blaring from his helmet drowning out the sound of the sirens. Infinite was speaking into a small comm unit nestled in the palm of his hand. The number showed Eggman as the jackal growled ever so slightly.

"Yeah, yeah what do you want?"

"Turn that awful edgy music off! I can't even hear myself think!"

The jackal heaved a sigh, turning off the music.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a hold of you?! How dare you go behind my back and let Shadow go!" Eggman's fury could be heard over the Comm unit as Infinite held it away from him in order to protect his hearing.

"I've bested the Ultimate Lifeform Doctor; He was pathetically weak an—"

A sound of a Wispon caused Infinite to turn his head around slightly, making eye contact with the Resistance members pointing their Wispons at him heaving a weary sigh.

"I'll call you back Doctor. I have some insects to crush."

"Fine then crush that rabble and then we'll have to have a chat about your di—"

Infinite hung up the call with a smirk seeing the Wispons pointed at him.

"Open fire! For Sonic!"

Russell's cry went up as the Resistance members fired off several rounds at Infinite who raised a hand dodging the Wispons attacks. The streams of cyan light streaked past the jackal who created more clones of himself to confuse the Resistance members their shots hit the glitching clones allowing Infinite to the fire of a red laser from the palm of his hand aiming it at the wings of an overpassing Gun plane slicing cleanly through the metal.

 _This power! No wonder Sonic was defeated so easily._ Gadget mused to himself up feeling a pit of dread in his stomach.

"Your savior is no more. There is no more need to resist."

With a wave of his hand, Infinite unleashed a red beam of light that cut across the area striking each of the Resistance members in their hearts their screams of anguish cut through the air. Gadget stared horrified watching their lifeless bodies slump to the ground the sound of the white Wispon clattered to the ground.

The lifeless bloodstained bodies of his friends lay not too far away from him, their eyes gazing sightlessly up at the sky. Gadget wanted to scream in anguish. His friends were dead, and he'd been unable to stop it.

"I can taste your despair and fear child."

Gadget turned his head ever so slightly as his fingers fumbled to grab the handle of the White Wispon pointing it right at Infinite. He wanted to shoot the jackal in front of him. His hands were shaking so badly that he couldn't even aim it at Eggman's second in command.

"Your fear is delicious."

With those words the jackal lifted a hand charging up a small red ball of light in the palm of his hand firing it off near Gadget's feet, knocking the young red wolf to the ground as he looked up with terror in his eyes.

Infinite to his surprise landed on the ground, taking several steps towards Gadget leaning in closer to examine him. For the briefest of moments, Gadget made eye contact with the eye behind the mask seeing the pupil behind it widen in surprise.

The jackal backed away adjusting the loose mask with two of his fingers floating back up into the air, the strange gem pulsing in his chest. The masked jackal hovering in front of Gadget exuded an aura of superiority, glancing down at Gadget taking in the sight of the trembling wolf dripping the Wispon in defeat. f

"If you flee screaming, I may let you live." Infinite laughed, the sound of Gadget's ears was disturbing, and it caused him to swallow his instincts nervously screaming at him to flee. He took one last look at the bodies of his deceased friends.

I'm sorry this is all my fault. I let you guys down. Gadget broke into a run keeping his head down hearing the malicious laughter coming from Infinite. He ran for his life, finding a small alleyway to hide. He sat there huddled up in a corner. He drew his tail in letting his head sink into his lap sobs wracking his body pulling his knees in close to him.

"I'm a coward; I should have died alongside them."

He heard the robot's feet running past his location. He prayed hard to Chaos that neither Infinite nor the robots would find him huddled up for protection against the wall scared out of his mind his body trembling with fear Infinite's laughter ringing in his ears. Only one thought crossed his mind, if only he hadn't fled, if only he had been able to find the courage to stand up to Infinite, only one thought crossed his mind.

It was all his fault.

* * *

Two hours passed before Knuckles arrived on the scene. Amy was itching for a fight gripping her Piko Piko Hammer tightly; Chaser looked ready to attack the nearest robots. Raven, on the other hand, stared around the scene in horror the smell of thick black smoke lingered in the air buildings were destroyed an eerie silence hung over the area the members of the Resistance were placing blankets over the bodies of the dead Resistance members.

It was almost like walking into a ghost town with the shattered remains of robots lying scattered GUN troopers patrolling the area.

Amy just stated horrified at the rest of the Resistance members running about the square having recovered the bodies of the six members who'd died.

"They died bravely." Knuckles said hoarsely taking in the terrible injuries that'd inflicted on the members of the Resistance. Chaser was silent along with Raven who held nothing more than a sympathetic look on his face surveying the bodies.

"We'll avenge them Commander that's a promise."

"Amy, go help out with the bodies." Knuckles said. "Chaser and Raven any Eggman robots that you see lingering about here just destroy them."

His orders were given out. Knuckles ran through the destroyed streets; his head swiveled towards the small soft sobs coming from the alleyway. His years of training slowly kicked in taking a cautious step forward towards the sobbing, red wolf gently reaching out for his shoulder.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Gadget paused in slowly lifting a hand up to wipe away the tears on his face. He looked up through his teary eyes taking in the sight of the echidna who bent down on one knee keeping a gentle hand placed on his shoulder. He'd flinched glancing down at the pair of sharp spurs jutting forth covered in dust, as he finally found himself listening to the echidna speaking to him.

"My name is Knuckles. I'm the Commander of the Resistance, and you have my condolences for the loss of your friends."

Gadget nodded gently pulled to his feet. The two of them walked in silence Gadget continued to rub his eyes. Knuckles heard the wolf rubbed his eyes his tail drooping down nearly having it drag in the ground behind him until a question from Knuckles caught his attention.

"What's your name kid?" Knuckles asked.

"My name is Gadget Sir." Gadget gulped his tears slipping down the side of his face.

Knuckles led the way with Gadget following him his ears were pinned back against his skull in a gesture of sadness. The two of them walked side by side returning to the square. Gadget felt Knuckles tense suddenly with Gadget following his gaze. He saw a pink hedgehog, a yellow Coyote and a jackal holding on a small Flamberge busy doing something.

In the middle of the square there lay several figures that had blankets draped over them. Gadget felt the fresh prick of tears in the corner of the wolf's eyes. The wolf stared at them ignoring Knuckle's shout. Gadget approached the covered bodies of his friends. He bent down gently resting a hand on the blanket that covered Russell for he was trembling all over the sob caught in his throat.

"I'm so sorry you guys," Gadget sobbed an anguished expression on his face. "I let you guys down."

Gadget placed a gentle hand on the rough surface feeling a pair of soft hands guiding him away from the bodies of his friends leading him over to a small stool. A small blanket was draped over his shoulders, for he couldn't stop his hands from shaking feeling a gentle hand placed on top of his own. He looked through teary eyes at Amy handing him a small tissue.

"I'm sorry that you lost your friends. I know that it's hard, ever since Sonic was defeated." Amy said, rubbing Gadget's back in soothing circles. The wolf nodded merely staring at the coyote and the jackal who were talking together surveying the scene. Gadget rubbed at his eyes looking at the jackal.

 _That jackal I'm sure that I've seen him before, but where and when?_ Gadget asked himself mentally slowly shrugging off the blanket wiping away the last of his tears taking in the destroyed scene and deep inside him a small spark of anger began to flicker and build. It was the same in every town destruction was a way of life. Destroyed homes. Families were separated, and innocent citizens killed for no reason.

Gadget inhaled, feeling his chest rise and fall trying to calm his racing heart. He got up, striding towards Knuckles who was speaking with a couple of other Resistance members who looked up to see the wolf approaching them a determined expression was on his face. He'd felt the small ball of determination growing in his heart. After seeing Infinite cruelly slaughter his friends, he'd made his decision on what he was going to do.

"Commander, I wish to join the Resistance to avenge my friends and Sonic," Gadget said calmly. "You said that the Resistance was looking for people with a fighting spirit and I want to help you reclaim Mobius from Eggman and Infinite's grasp."

The silence was so loud that you could hear a pin drop. Knuckles looked shocked as the coyote, and the jackal stared at Gadget in shock that it was strange for the red wolf who'd been grieving minute ago to decide that he was going to join their fight suddenly.

"Are you serious?" Chaser asked. "Kid, no offense, but you were shaking like a leaf a few seconds ago."

"Listen to me Gadget only if you're sure about your decision," Knuckles replied calmly. "This is War, and it's not a game. People are dying."

"I'll be sure to follow your every command, Sir, and I'm sure about this."

"Let him join Commander," Raven said, looking in Gadget's direction."If he wants to avenge his friends, then we should let him join."

Knuckles saw that the wolf wasn't going to be deterred from his decision. Seeing the young wolf standing there his fists clenched at his side. The defiant expression on Gadget's face that Gadget was willing to stand and fight to help them reclaim Mobius.

 _He's just a kid a determined kid at that_. Knuckles thought to himself. He's afraid, but he's the only one who survived this attack, and he may have potential as a member of the Resistance.

Knuckles approached Gadget holding out a hand for him to shake. The wolf did so without any form of hesitation. He winced slightly at the echidna's tight grip, keeping up his determined expression. This was it his chance to help the Resistance take back their home, somehow he would find a way to defeat Infinite

"Welcome to the Resistance Gadget."

"I won't let you down."

The small Resistance group gently placed the bodies of the fallen Resistance members on the stretchers beginning the long trek back to Sunset Heights so that they would find a spot to give their fallen comrades a proper funeral. Gadget carried one end of the stretcher, his face still maintaining that determined expression, for he had a new mission now.

 _I will avenge my friends and make Infinite pay for what he has done._ The wolf vowed to himself. _I don't know how I'll do it, but I will avenge them._

* * *

 _Author's note Nine chapters in we finally have the second hero in this story making his debut. I know that this chapter may seem a little disjointed. I wanted to show what the Resistance has been faring. It was a lot of character interactions to fit into one chapter since I wanted to show what both sides have been up to in the six months since this war started._

 _In all seriousness, I do like Infinite's theme song. I couldn't pass up the chance to make a little joke out of it. XD_

 _Gadget's not going to have an easy time and neither will Sonic at the moment._

 _Also, I have to say it's such a shame that SEGA didn't have Rouge and Knuckles interact and if I had to be honest writing Rouge and Knuckle's brief interactions was one of my favorite parts of the chapter._

 _As per usual Thoughts/suggestions and Reviews are always welcome, and I will see you guys soon with the next chapter. The story in the next few chapters is going to get intense soon, so I suggest that you get ready for it._


	10. The new Rookie

_Author's note Hello everyone I'm back!_

 _Thanks as always to my wonderful reviewers. You guys are seriously the best. I honestly do appreciate them. Also over 40 reviews, I'm dazed. We're not even at the halfway point of this fic, and we still have a long way to go, and I already have ideas for a sequel in mind._

 _I can't believe how much support this fic's gotten and from the bottom of my heart, I have to thank all of the people who have viewed this story and hit that follow/fav button._

 _As always a big thank you to Miki-Chan13, bayj, Alexandria Prime, TGN, guest, and SD321. Your love and support for this story genuinely mean a lot to me. I'm also pleased to see that all of you are enjoying the story._

 _Without any further delays let's head on to the next chapter._

 _Disclaimer I don't own anything. Sonic the Hedgehog belongs to Sega._

* * *

Metropolis was the high-tech capital of Mobius. The pristine white buildings were pleasing to the eye as it was home to several high-rise luxury apartments. Metropolis held the record for the biggest city in all of Mobius. Two million Mobians took pride in living the high life with all of the latest technological devices at their fingertips. Metropolis' borders stretching fifty miles squared bordering the southern section of Mystic Jungle and the northern points of Redgate City.

It was home to the latest technological trends. One could say it was like stepping into a vision of Mobius' future. Billboards and giant jumbotrons hovered in the air displaying ads for the latest trends in technology from the tech companies who had formed fierce rivalries with each other determined to put the other company out of business.

The vast skyline under normal circumstances usually had all types of hover vehicles of all types transporting the citizens of Metropolis to their jobs and for them to come home at the end of a long day of hard work. There were long, twisting pathways that wound through the horizon, offering anyone who ran along it a fantastic view of the gleaming white city streets. When it became night time, all the buildings along the skyline would light up illuminating the night sky with a brightness that was said to rival Casino Night Zone.

However, this once pristine white city's future was looking bleak. It was now the main base for Eggman where it had been one of the very first targets following Sonic's defeat. The residents there had been unable to evacuate in time, and instead of walking the streets as free Mobians, they were prisoners stuffed into small cells forced to labor in Eggman's factories scattered around the city building robots for the doctor's ever-expanding mechanical army.

Infinite paced along the plush carpets of the penthouse he'd lived in as his "reward" for helping Eggman to conquer the world. He let out a low sigh, sitting down on the leather couch sinking into it. The jackal pulled out the small photo he'd carried with him. It was slightly creased. There were some nights where sleep refused to come to the jackal where he'd tossed and turned in his sleep plagued by nightmares about his squad dying.

The five smiling jackals looked up at him; his hand was obscuring part of the photo. He saw a faint glimmer of red and gray. He moved his hand to cover the far right side of the photograph hiding the two figures on it.

"Kaito, Saber, Quartz, Nephthys, Blade, Iris, Roscoe, Ace and Flint. I did it," Infinite let out a low sigh, feeling the small tear slip out from underneath his mask. "All of you should be at the top with me along with G—"

The jackal shook his head cutting off his speech the tips of his claws gently caressed the edge of the photo. All the pain he'd caused, the lives that he'd ended seeing the fear and terror on the citizens faces shutting out their pleas for mercy he would laugh enjoying their suffering the blood splattering on his mask.

 _It's all thanks to the Phantom Ruby._ Infinite thought happily touching the gem on his chest. _It indeed is the ultimate strength._

He loved it whenever he got the chance to indulge in his sadistic tendencies; it made him forget his old self — the old person who used to be known as Zerinn. His short crimson sword was propped up against one of the walls the blade pointing down onto the soft plush carpet next to an empty bookshelf. Ever since he'd acquired the power of the Phantom Ruby, he no longer had a use for his sword. It was more useful as a prop the crimson blade covered in dust from lack of use; the jackal ran a finger over it collecting dust on the tip of his finger.

At that moment the monitor stationed on the wall began to beep.

The sound caused Infinite to sigh in irritation. He jerked his head towards the small monitor stationed on the wall heaving a sigh. He could ignore incessant ringing of the summons from Eggman by pretending to sleep, but he knew the gesture would be pointless since his

"Infinite pickup! I know that you're there!"

Infinite heaved a sigh, walking away from his sword reluctantly facing the holo feed seeing Eggman's face on the screen. The all too familiar scowl on the doctor's face. Eggman did his best to hide just how angry he was at Infinite for disobeying him feeling his fingers twitch trying to resist the urge to strangle Infinite where he stood.

"What the hell do you want?"

"What I want is to talk about your damn disobedience concerning Shadow," Eggman said, struggling to keep his anger in check. "He was supposed to be on the Death Egg as a prisoner."

"He was nothing more than trash Doctor," Infinite replied calmly. "I've bested him, and he's no longer a threat to anyone."

"Shadow is just as fast as Sonic. There is a reason that he's called the Ultimate Lifeform!"

From his place on the Death, Egg Eggman rubbed at his temples, seeing Infinite fold his arms over his chest in a gesture of defiance. He looked down at the Phantom Ruby Prototype pulsing in the jackal's chest, and he had to wonder if infusing of the finalized Prototype of the Phantom Ruby with Infinite had been a mistake.

"Fine, then I have a job, one that I know the Ultimate Mercenary can handle," Eggman quipped sarcastically. "I need you to go to the Spaceport at Chemical Plant and guard the Space shuttles there in case the Resistance gets wind that Sonic's still alive. Kill them on sight."

"Do not underestimate my power Doctor," Infinite replied flatly. "I will crush those insects underneath my heel."

Eggman nodded, turning off the monitor. Infinite turned on his heel walking out of the penthouse stalking down the hallway the only sign that he was angry was his tail lashing from side to side. He took the elevator feeling the lift, shake underneath his feet as it descended to the bottom floor, leaving him to stalk out of the building before he levitated into the air a red glow surrounding him. The Jackal took off in a red trail of light which stood out against the light red hue of the early dawn skies.

Unknown to Infinite a black and red hedgehog observed the trail of red light shooting up into the sky, his crimson eyes narrowing at the sight of the jackal. Shadow felt his fingers clench into a fist. His blood red crimson irises followed Infinite's movements carefully. The jackal quickly faded from sight. There was no doubt heading to wherever the doctor told him to go, probably to kill even more innocent people.

"He's on his way again."

Shadow said, taking several steps sticking close to the shadows his black and red fur blending in with the shadows of the building. The last six months hadn't been easy for him to say the least. Making Infinite had pay had been his focus for destroying Omega, creating that false construct of him to trick the whole world into believing that once again he was working for Doctor Eggman. He didn't want to think about how this false Shadow was affecting Rouge; he could only imagine the supposed betrayal that the bat was feeling right now.

Also for using that illusion of Maria against you. His brain reminded him.

Shadow gritted his teeth at the thought of the callous way that the jackal used his best friends' memory against him. He looked down at the Chaos Emerald nestled in the palm of his hands.

"I will make him pay no matter what."

With that Shadow broke into a silent supersonic jog following the trial of red light shooting across the sky being pursued by the Ultimate Lifeform who was determined to make him pay for his actions.

In the Bunker at Sunset Heights sleep didn't come quickly to a particular red wolf. Gadget tossed and turned on the small makeshift bed, sleep dotting his brow. His nails dug into the sheets. He slowly opened his eyes jolting up in his sleep; his amber eyes darted about the rows of makeshift beds. Gadget breathed slowly, looking around at the slumbering few Mobians in their beds his panic from his nightmare slowly fading.

He still couldn't believe that it had already been three days since he had joined the Resistance. It seemed like a bizarre dream, one that Gadget wasn't sure that he couldn't wake up and it was a never-ending nightmare.

Gadget didn't want to think about what had occurred just a mere three days ago. Eggman's forces had taken Redgate City although the Resistance's best efforts and his friends were dead. The wolf recalled having wept at their funeral, watching their bodies being wrapped up in the brown blankets with the Resistance logo stamped on the covers watching their bodies lowered into their graves.

That ivory hedgehog Silver had given a speech honoring their bravery, but Gadget had mostly ignored it. Gadget stifled the yawn slipping out of, bed making his way down to the mess hall to grab an early breakfast The hallways were quiet for most of the Resistance members were fast asleep.

Gadget made his way into the communications room where several large monitors were stationed at the computer monitors seeing both Amy and Sahara observing the monitor screens. Both females had a determined expression on their faces watching the screens.

Gadget entered the room, noticing that they weren't alone. The Chaotix, Silver, and Raven were watching the screens seeing Eggman's logo flash across the screen.

"Oh no, not this stupid commercial again." Espio facepalmed.

"I like it. It's good TV!" Charmy piped up prompting Vector to place a hand on the bees' mouth silencing him.

Gadget's attention was drawn towards the screen, seeing a crudely drawn city with a picture of the sun smiling happily. Big, bold black letters flashed across the screen. Saying come to join the Eggman Empire! For some weird reason, there was old-fashioned music you'd hear in one of those old infomercials.

"Dear Citizens of Mobius are you tired of living in a cheerful city filled with irritating neighbors?" Eggman's voice asked.

"If so it's time for a change of pace."

The screen transitioned from a bright sunny day replaced with mechanical buildings; dull mechanical groans in the distance with thick, toxic smoke clouds filling the air.

"Now then you have to ask yourselves how can I live in a world that doesn't have clean, breathable air?"

The screen showed a red wolf wearing green gloves and boots lying on the ground, choking on the thick black smoke.

"That's no longer a problem with Doctor Eggman's all-inclusive Robotomy treatment!" Eggman cried out. "Only for, $29.99 rings if you join up with the Eggman Empire today!"

There was a zap sound coming from the screen, and the wolf turned into a robotic wolf glaring at the screen.

"Also, there are advantages to being a robot."

The screen showed a list of the boxes for eat, sleep and think ticked off.

"Why if you become a robot you don't have to worry about gaining weight, you won't suffer nightmares anymore and never have to think ever again!"

The screen panned over to several of Eggman's pawns with one of them sporting a smile.

"That's what we call living the good life!"

A line of Egg pawns stood together waving happily against a white screen with the Eggman Empire logo in the background.

"Come and join the Eggman Empire, where the possibilities are Infinite."

A crudely drawn Infinite resembling the masked creature which they'd fighting against for the last few months slowly floated up from behind the line of robots his hands held out in a sweeping gesture.

"You'll love being a part of the Eggman Empire."

The commercial ended with the words Love mandatory flashing across the screen.

The screen shut off. Silver turned on his heel facing the small crowd his expression was serious. Raven for some reason had tensed when Infinite had shown up on the screen a brief look of horror appearing in his eyes.

"We show that ad to all recruits to show them what we're up against." Silver explained, looking at the recruits who were standing there as Gadget swished his tail from side to side nervously swallowing past the lump forming in his throat.

"So, has Eggman used that robotomy treatment on Mobians?" A light gray bear called out from the back of the crowd. "I mean it's been nearly six months, and we haven't seen any robot Mobians."

"That may be true, but with Eggman, it's likely he may resort to that tactic," Silver said. "Today, Tails and I will oversee your mission here in Sunset Heights."

Gadget inhaled deeply. Ever since joining the Resistance Gadget patiently waited for the chance to prove himself and now the moment finally had a was waiting to prove himself. Gadget saw the twin-tailed fox walking towards him with the Burst Wispon clasped in his hands. Tails had been Sonic's longtime sidekick as the young fox turned towards him. The young fox was rumored to have an intelligence one that rivaled Doctor Eggman's intelligence. He felt the weight of the Wispon pressed into his hands.

"The Burst Wispons are usually reserved for beginners," Tails gestured to the small black switch on the bottom of the Wispon. "All you have to do is to point and shoot."

Gadget nodded, falling into stride as Sahara followed them clasping a Lightning Wispon her eyes were eager. The maned wolf was ready to get into the field along with Amy not too far behind her.

"I was able to repair most of the Wispons, and I'm going to be helping out with today's mission as well." Tails added in twitching his tails from side to side.

"Today's mission is simple. Some Egg pawns just arrived in Sunset Heights with Eggman determined to root us out."

The news from Silver sent a small ripple of unease through the small crowd. Gadget swallowed nervously; his fingers shook ever so slightly gripping the Wisp on determined not to let his fear show on his face. The rest of his unit was eagerly walking away from the Bunker breaking into a run with Gadget keeping pace.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Silver and Tails working together to deal with the swarm of Buzz Bombers as Tails sliced through the robotic bees with his tails. Several more of the robotic bees were wrapped up in a cyan glow were thrown into a wall.

The rest of the Resistance members were busy engaging the robots.

"I can do this, just point and shoot."

Gadget pointed the Burst Wispon at the approaching robots pressing down on the switch seeing the whoosh of the flames erupting from the end of the Wispon destroying the robots effortlessly a small smile appeared on his face.

I'm doing it! I'm, actually doing it! Gadget thought to himself gleefully watching the stream of flame he held out his left wrist, his grappling hook resting firmly on his left wrist, he activated it watching the wire lash out with precision striking the robots destroying them still keeping a tight grip on his Wispon.

Sahara smirked lashing out with her Void Wispon watching the small black hole doing its work destroying the robots by sucking them into a black void. It felt so good to her as every strike that they made against Eggman was payback for the pain and misery that the mad scientist had inflicted on their home.

"What is that crazy wolf doing?"

Silver heard the cry went up as he saw Gadget wasn't even bothering to use his Wispon the small smile that was on his face. He looked over at Tails the kit looked over the battle for most of Eggman's robots had been destroyed for only a few remained. Gadget failed to notice the lone robot sneaking up behind him with a fist raised striking the red wolf on the back of the head sending him sprawling towards the ground.

"Gadget! Hold on!"

Tails immediately dove seeing the Wispon being yanked out from the young wolf's hands, sending it skidding across the ground. Gadget felt the full force of the blow nearly knocking him senseless sending him crashing down to the ground gravity dragging him downwards, his jaw colliding with the hard ground causing his teeth to bite his tongue. His legs felt like lead, for he was losing consciousness and through his blurry vision the last thing he saw was Tails coming to his rescue lashing out with his tails destroying the robot, and he gave into unconsciousness.

They were faint and muffled, but the wolf could still hear their voices of two Mobian. Gadget struggled to open his eyes, and his pounding headache wasn't helping matters. The wolf managed to open his eyes, seeing a pink blob hovering over him speaking in low tones. He began to his eyes, feeling his glasses being placed on his forehead Amy's gentle hand was pushing down on his shoulder.

"Take it easy Gadget," Amy said, holding up two fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Ah, the concussion test. Gadget looked at Amy calmly. "You're holding up two fingers on both of your hands and my visions' fine when you put on my glasses." Gadget said hoarsely reaching up to touch the bandages on his head wincing as he did so.

"It's okay, we were able to destroy the robots, so we're safe for now," Amy gently patted his ungloved hand silently marveling at how soft his fur was. "You're going to have to stay in bed for a few days."

For how much longer are we going to be safe? Gadget thought to himself hearing the door hiss open as Knuckles and Sahara came in the maned wolf was giving Knuckles a status update on Gadget's condition.

"He's lucky to be alive," Sahara chimed in walking in with Knuckles the echidna had a stoic expression on his face. Gadget knew straight away that he was in trouble. "Dr. Mina does want to keep him in the infirmary for a few days

"Commander Knuckles I- I'm sorry."

Knuckles looked at him with an unreadable expression on his face. The silence was tense in the room before he heard the low heavy sigh. Gadget found himself making eye contact with the Guardian who looked disappointed in him. Gadget felt his spirits plummet lowering his head digging his nails into the blanket shamefully folding his ears back against his skull.

"You got carried away Rookie," Knuckles said. "In combat, you must always keep an eye on your surroundings at all times. I told you when I first met you that this war, not a game."

Gadget lowered his head shamefully aware of the very likely scenario Knuckles would discharge him from the Resistance for his reckless actions. He wasn't going to get another chance ever to avenge his friends, and he felt that pit of dread forming in the pit of his stomach.

"Are you going to kick me out of the Resistance?"

Knuckles hesitated for a brief moment looking over at Amy and Shara exchanging a look of concern with each other speaking in low tones. Knuckles shook his head from side to side in a gesture that meant no.

"No, I won't. I hate to think what would have happened if Tails hadn't saved you."

Gadget nodded numbly with relief sinking into the bed. Gadget felt Sahara place a gentle hand on his shoulder watching both Knuckles and Amy walking away from him talking in low tones with each other as he let out a quiet sigh sinking into his bed wondering if he had made a mistake in joining the Resistance.

"I can't be reckless anymore," Gadget said to no one in particular. "From here in I'll become a reliable member of the Resistance, I'm not going to let anyone else down I promise."

With the promise in his heart Gadget settled back on the hard mattress his eyes fluttering closed settling into an uneasy slumber determined to carry out his commitment.

* * *

 _Author's note I'm just going to say it. I love the join the Eggman Empire ad, and I've always planned to include this ad into the story with some alterations to it since I didn't want to copy it word for word._

 _Also, I wanted to put in Metropolis there as to show which other cities have been affected by Eggman's take over and to also show what Shadow's been up to since we last saw him._

 _One of the things that bugged me was that the Jackal squad wasn't focused on since the only mention that they got was that Shadow wiped them out and I find it odd that there's no mention of them for the rest of the game. They are going to play a role in this story._ _Sonic will appear next chapter since things are starting to pick up._

 _Like I've said that Gadget is not going to have an easy time at first since the game didn't seem to expand on the implication that the Avatar to put it lightly was struggling with their new role as a member of the Resistance._

 _As per usual thoughts/ suggestions and reviews are welcome as always and I'll talk to you guys soon with the next chapter._


	11. The battle of Spaceport

_Author's note So here we are once more with another chapter and I've been itching to get these next few chapters out. I have planned out this whole story, and it's been a while, and this story is going to be around 46 chapters long. Things are going to get wild from here on out._

 _Also, thanks and replies to TGN, Alexandria Prime, SD321,_ bayj _, and YamiChaos27 for leaving a review on the last chapter. As always I genuinely appreciate your reviews as they motivate me to keep going with this fic._

 _Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Sonic the_ Hedgehog _._

* * *

Six months. It had been six long painful months as Sonic shifted to the least bruised side of his body against the cold floor. The hedgehog coughed ever so slightly the sharp hacking sound cut through the air. Sonic lay sprawled on his side, his wrists and ankles were still in the Chaos Inhibitor rings. His once pristine cobalt coat was dirty dotted all over with dried blood stains; his ribs were beginning to show since Eggman decided that Sonic needed to be on a "diet" over a month ago.

Sonic winced, feeling the fresh stab of pain coursing down his left leg; he looked down with disdain at the fresh wounds that covered his body, ignoring the loud rumble of his stomach. God, he was hungry. He could go for several plates of chili dogs right about now.

Tails, Knuckles, Amy were they safe? Sonic hoped that they were his teeth gritted his mind recalling all the tortures that he'd been forced to endure over the course of the last six months. Being ducked in the cold, water that was his least favorite one. There had been numerous races against Metal Sonic where, despite his best efforts, he still lost most of them.

"Nothing worse than losing a race to Metal." Sonic winced, feeling the fresh bruises that had been inflicted on him by Zavok and Shadow. The two of them seemed to take the most sadistic glee in torturing Sonic.

"Why, Shad?" I still don't get it. Why are you working for Eggman?" Sonic asked himself.

The Ultimate Lifeform's betrayal weighed heavily on Sonic's mind. His anxiety was growing, and so was his frustration outweighing his concern for his friends. Surely Tails and Amy were safe; they had to be. Otherwise, he would've seen them in the Death Egg. Knuckles he knew would've put up a fight against the robots.

"Are they even still alive anymore?"

Sonic began to tremble. It was the one question he desperately wanted the answer to the most. The worst torture that he'd been forced to endure was whenever Infinite would walk by his cell, being followed by that ringing sound followed by a wave of red and he would be forced to relive the hallucination of his friends dying repeatedly.

"They're dead," Sonic gasped out trembling with fear and guilt. "I'm so sorry guys I just wish I'd beaten Infinite when I had the chance."

A new sound echoed through the hallway. Footsteps echoing off the walkway for Sonic turned his stiff, aching neck to face the pair of black boots along with a couple of black clawed feet turning his head ever slightly to see Eggman and Zavok glaring down at him.

"Wake up Sonic. It's a brand new day," Eggman grinned. "Look at you, still holding on to that fragile spirit after all this time."

"It's impressive that his spirit hasn't even been broken after all this time." Zavok rumbled turning to look Sonic in the eye.

Sonic gritted his teeth turning his stiff, aching neck towards the sound of Eggman's voice the rotund figure stood there with his hands clasped behind his back looking down at Sonic with a sullen expression on his face.

Zavok twitched his tail from side to side the long mighty muscular appendage had delivered some nasty blows to Sonic when it was just him and Zavok for the Zeti would happily attack Sonic as revenge for the events which had occurred on Lost Hex resulting in the deaths of the rest of the Deadly Six.

"Yeah, well, your room service is still at the bottom of the barrel and what you ran out of the expired sushi already?" Sonic grinned wincing ever so slightly from the pain.

"Well, it's not my fault that the markets on Mobius are out of fresh fish."

Eggman took several steps towards the bars leaning in ever so slightly to make eye contact with the stricken hedgehog. It was still unbelievable that after all this time Sonic could even make jokes, there was always that spark of defiance that kept burning in the hedgehog's heart. Something still kept Sonic going where anyone else would've surrendered by now.

"Okay, change of subject, then," Sonic shifted his gaze towards the irate Zeti. "I see that you still look stupid as ever Zavok being all chummy with Eggman."

Zavok let out a loud bellow of pure rage slamming both of his fists into the cell bars of Sonic's cage causing the hedgehog to meet his gaze calmly the small frown on his mouth tilting his head ever so slightly meeting Zavok's gaze head-on without a shred of fear in his eyes.

"I will never be friends with the fat one over there. Your Little Resistance keeps on defying us. They're still fighting, believing that you're alive. I would've killed you the moment you were captured."

Eggman let out a low, irritated moan rubbing two of his fingers between his temples a habit he picked up when he was stressed. First Infinite had gone and defied him by not transporting Shadow to the Death Egg. Zavok had overstepped his boundaries again.

"Yes, well enjoy your stay here Sonic. It won't be for much longer."

Eggman turned around walking away with Zavok slamming a fist against the cell bars in one last futile effort to startle Sonic only to see the hedgehog give him a cheeky grin causing the Zeti to fume storming off after Eggman.

 _The second that both Eggman and Zavok were gone the small grin vanished from Sonic's face, letting his head rest against the cold floor of his cell._

 _Guys, if you're still out there, please be safe._

* * *

The mad scientist was at a keyboard typing in several keys; a different expression was on his face, for he fingered a small gray watch-like device on his left wrist. His eyes focused on a small screen that displayed Mobius with most of the planet covered in red marking the Eggman Empire's territory which included almost all of Mobius with a tiny blue speck represent the Resistance's region.

"I've also ordered Infinite to destroy the prototypes of the Phantom Ruby," Eggman said. "I can't have them falling into the hands of the Resistance."

Metal Sonic and Orbot were in the room watching their creator work. Metal Sonic was Eggman's bodyguard, and most of the time he was usually at Eggman's side, watching his creator work like a silent sentinel ready to attack anyone who was foolish enough to get close to his master.

"The Resistance is defiant. They have hope. I need to find a way to crush that hope and quickly."

"I think that we both know what the answer to that solution is. We have to kill Sonic." Zavok said his tail swishing back and forth.

"No, if we eliminate Sonic at this point the people of Mobius will fight back even harder to avenge their so-called hero," Eggman said typing something on the computer screen the multitude of words appearing on the screen. "Also with Infinite being disobedient I just can't have anything else to go wrong."

"Project Jackal is almost ready and besides Sonic will be dead either of his wounds or starvation since he's been wasting away in that cell sooner or later," Eggman said. "I plan to banish him to space soon, and I'll be the one to do it."

"I should be the one to do it. We should execute Sonic and make it a public spectacle." It'll strike fear into our enemies' hearts."

Eggman rubbed at his temples again an irritated sigh escaping his lips. He wanted to be the one to execute Sonic. He could only imagine the look of pure horror on Sonic's face when he realized that there was nothing he could do to prevent his death. No, he would be the one to finish off Sonic himself as a fitting end to their rivalry.

"No, we're banishing him to Space."

"Execution."

Eggman has turned a distrustful look seeing the Zeti glaring back at him. Now of all times, they were going to argue about the manner of Sonic's execution.

"Or you could drown Sonic and broadcast it," Orbot said. Eggman and Zavok turned to glare at Orbot causing the smaller robot to flinch seeing the Zeti beginning to raise a pair of fingers to his forehead.

"Okay, fine, we'll execute him in the next twenty-four hours!"

Zavok lowered his fingers seeing Eggman glowering at him with Metal Sonic ready to protect his master even though it wouldn't have done any good due to Zavok's ability to control mechs. The Zeti simply smirked as Eggman turned back to his console the scowl was back on his face.

A loud crash alerted Eggman the robotic hedgehog charged forward, ignoring Eggman's shout for him to come back. Metal Sonic appeared in the hallway with his flexing his metallic digits eager to attack the intruder.

The robot spied a brief glimpse of gray fur with a black tip on its tail running away. In pursuit of the spy Metal, Sonic revved his engines racing ahead failing to notice a pair of turquoise eyes peering around the corner.

The gray wolf nervously waited until he was sure that Metal Sonic was gone before he peered around the corner a small smile was on his face. His tail was wagging ever so slightly in excitement at hearing the conversation that confirmed Sonic was still alive.

"So, Sonic is alive. Miss Rouge will want to hear about this."

The young wolf broke into a run slipping out of his hiding place racing down a different pathway amazed at just how vast the Death Egg was mentally having mapped out the space station. The spy came to a stop near the end of the corridor flipping over the small communicator attached to his wrist dialing in several numbers hearing, he static filtering through the device until he heard a sultry voice coming from it.

"Balti what is it, honey? Do you have anything to report?"

"Yes, Miss Rouge I have some good news for you."

The wolf hurriedly filled in Rouge what was going on, seeing the bat's tired face sport a small genuine smile. The smile faded from her face when Balti had told her about the torture that Sonic went through seeing the bat cover her mouth.

"So Eggman's going to execute him soon," Rouge mused the look of concern on her face. "Just promise me you won't do anything reckless."

"I, won't I promise," Balti said without hesitation. "I just hope that Sonic can hold on for a little longer."

He turned his communicator off looking around at his hiding hole. He felt a small spark of hope igniting in his heart. Hope that the news Sonic was still alive would be more than enough to encourage the Resistance to fight back against the ironclad grip of the Eggman Empire.

* * *

Gadget sluggishly got out of the makeshift bed, noticing that most of the beds were empty. The wolf hurried down the hallway the muttering of several of the Resistance members. A couple of them were shooting him dirty looks for his performance in the mission just last week. It had taken a full week of bedrest leaving Gadget restless, eager to rejoin the fight against the Eggman Empire.

"Hey, look, it's the wolf who got himself knocked out."

"He's going to get us killed one of these days."

Gadget blushed in embarrassment, seeing several members of the Resistance walking past him one of them mimed a robot smacking Gadget on the back of the head the other two Mobians held back their laughter.

Gadget froze when he saw Raven standing there sharpening his weapon running a critical eye over the small green flamberge seeing Gadget approaching him. Now that Gadget had managed to get a good look at the jackal he had a piece of small green fabric tucked between two of his fingers, his mane which had been previously shaved off was starting to grow back. It almost resembled the beginning of a mohawk.

"Hey, Gadget, I heard about what happened are you okay?"

There was a hint of concern in Raven's voice for Gadget opened his mouth to answer Raven's question only to have a bee come flying right into his face.

"Yes I-" Before Gadget could finish his sentence a bee flew into his face, which Gadget fought the urge to sigh.

"Hello, Charmy."

"Oh, hey Gadget! I'm glad to see that you're up! Oh, and Raven's here too." You guys need to head to the meeting room like now!"

Vector removed Charmy from Gadget's face ignoring the bee's loud protests. Espio had gone on ahead joining the crowd of the Resistance members who were making their way down the hallway into the massive meeting room speculations were about for why their Commander was calling a meeting.

"I dunno what all of this ruckus is about, but Knuckles said that he's got some big news from the Death Egg!"

Gadget and Raven broke into a run joining the large crowd which consisted of every single member of the Resistance gathering around the wooden platform as Knuckles stood on top of it with Rouge, Silver, Amy, and Tails at his side. Right away Gadget noticed the broad smile on the echidnas' face; he held out his hands' palms facing downwards signaling for silence which the crowd immediately complied.

"I'm going to get to the point," Knuckles said smiling. "I've just received some incredible news. Sonic is alive."

If someone had been walking outside the Resistance base, the sound of the loud cheering would have deafened them. As several Mobians were hugging each other, both Tails and Amy had tears of relief in their eyes. The dense cloud of despair lifted from everyone's hearts. Rouge stepped forward indicating for silence as Gadget cheered himself hoarse. Omega was there as well on the edge of the crowd.

"However, that's the only good news I'm afraid," Rouge said with a low sigh. "Sonic is on the Death Egg, and our spy also says Eggman has been torturing him for six months and he plans to execute Sonic within the next twenty-four hours."

The good mood in the room vanished instantly. Gadget's ears flattened. The once small hope that the crowd had was now fading for Sonic's survival hearing a sharp whistle cut through the air. Tails held out his hands.

"Not all hope's lost. We have to launch a raid on Spaceport, and Knuckles, Amy, and I have come up with a plan to do so."

The hope was back in the room again the crowd was speaking in low tones again. Gadget had to wonder at the way that Tails carried himself always. He was Sonic's sidekick and the news that he'd been waiting for had ignited a small spark of hope in the fox's heart.

"The plan is simple. We're going to be sending a small team to Spaceport to borrow a shuttle," Knuckles and a small piece of paper clenched in the palm of his hand. "I've thought long and hard about this decision, and I've decided to send Vector, Charmy, and Espio, Rouge, Raven, Tails, and Gadget."

All eyes were on Gadget pinning the red wolf in the center of the attention as he swallowed nervously past the lump in his throat.

"You can't be serious," A vixen called from the crowd."You're sending the amazing flying wolf?"

"I'm willing to chalk that on the last mission due to inexperience," Knuckles replied. "Besides, I believe that Gadget is fully capable of redeeming himself and we can't waste any more time."

Gadget felt a slight tap on his shoulder, looking at Raven who gave him a small nod of encouragement.

"You can do it. I know that you can."

Gadget nodded, still trying to shake off the nervous butterflies in his stomach. He wasn't going to let the Resistance down again. This time he wasn't going to let himself down as well.

* * *

Spaceport. A more fitting name for it would be Eggman's northernmost Chemical Plant located somewhere in the freezing Holoskian tundras. The blue liquid which once flowed through the pipes was frozen over. There was no life to be found here well apart from robotics workers whose sole task was to provide both fuel and weaponry for the ships in Eggman's fleet that came to receive weaponry.

Security was tight at the plant due to it having the only space shuttle in the fleet, and no one even took notice of the black and red hedgehog that made his way into the chemical plant along with a small group of Mobians determined to rescue Sonic.

It was several hours later where the icy cold winds assaulted Gadget's ears running along a pair of platforms that twisted around each other in an infinite symbol almost slipping off the ice-covered platforms with Tails not for far behind him taking out robots in the air with the Chaotix behind him. Raven and Rouge had taken a different entrance to the Spaceport.

Gadget ran ahead the Burst Wispon clasped in his hands the stream of fire shot out of the end destroying several robots effortlessly. Tails dealt with the swarm of Buzz Bombers and robotic birds heading in their direction. Gadget briefly glanced up running out of the way of the falling robot parts. Snowflakes drifted down from the grey overcast sky, coating them all in the snow.

 _Stay focused. They've given you a second chance. Don't mess up this time._ Gadget vowed to himself, seeing Espio run ahead of him kunai at the ready flinging them out with deadly accuracy striking the robots. Vector ran ahead of the group landing bites onto the robots punching them with his fists. Charmy flew around hitting the robots with his stinger. Rouge drill kicked several of the robots destroying them, adding to the small pile of scrap on the ground.

"We need to earn our pay boys!"

"Guys! Just as a heads up Shadow's is heading in our direction!" Raven's voice cut through the air.

Gadget turned feeling a heavyweight come slamming into his side, sending him sprawling to the ground the pained cry was on his lips the grip on his throat tightened. Gadget looked up to see Shadow's crimson orbs staring down at him without a trace of remorse in his eyes. Gadget had never gotten the chance to know Shadow personally, but from the few stories that he'd heard about the hedgehog he knew that Shadow was known as the Ultimate Lifeform and he struggled to make a desperate grab for his Wispon while being suffocated to death.

"Get off him you monster!"

Something tackled Shadow as Gadget slowly sat up, rubbing at his throat wincing seeing both Raven and Shadow tussling on the ground, with the black hedgehog lunging at the jackal's arms, seeing a flash of white against the black fur the pair of white stripes slowly began to appear against the ebony fur. A yelp of pain came from Raven's direction exposing a small pink scar on the bridge of his muzzle.

Gadget's eyes widened upon seeing the small pink scar across the bridge of the jackal's muzzle. "Kaito!" Gadget broke into a run preparing his Wispon the stream of flame shot out of the end of the Wispon hearing Shadow growl in pain turning around to glare at him running forward to land another attack on Gadget.

The second sound of footsteps could be heard spying another black and red hedgehog racing towards them a scowl on his face. Tails tensed seeing the small look of confusion on Rouge's face as the Ultimate Lifeform briefly reaching back withdrawing the Chaos Emerald from his spines.

"Chaos Control!"

The black and red hedgehog teleported into the air, landing a roundhouse kick on the other Shadow sending him crashing to the ground, the Ultimate Lifeform landed on his feet, his expression set in a scowl looking down at the other Shadow lying on the floor.

"Wait a minute there are two Shadows?" Charmy exclaimed in shock. "So we'd been fighting a fake Shadow all along?"

The other Shadow began to glitch out reddish purple particles vanishing with a strange ringing noise. Rouge took several hesitant steps seeing Shadow turn around to meet her. He spied Kaito glaring at him, his lip curled ever so slightly in anger, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his flamberge.

"I knew it," Rouge said with a small hint of emotion."I knew that there was no way that you would break your promise to Maira."

"It's a long story, but the Doctor created a fake of me, and I'll tell you the rest of it later."

"Wait a minute Kaito?" I thought that your name was Raven." Vector growled with suspicion his eyes focusing on the jackal who held his hands up in a peaceful gesture.

"Yes, I know that I lied and my real name is Kaito," Kaito replied. "I know that you have a shit ton of questions and I know Gadget because he's my adoptive brother. I will answer those questions in time."

"Kaito! I thought you were dead." Gadget said, rushing over to embrace the jackal who returned the hug. The sounds of the communicator attached to Rouge's wrist went off the bat opened it.

"Rouge, all of you need to step on it and get to that shuttle. Infinite is heading towards your location, and Shadow was also sighted coming here so you'll have two threats to deal with."

"No, we have just Infinite to deal with," Rouge said with a coy smile. "Eggman created a fake Shadow, and he never sided with the Doctor in the first place."

Rouge explained everything to Knuckles, who listened intently. For Rouge, she felt nothing, but relief for Shadow had never betrayed her and Omega. He'd hadn't broken his promise to Maria.

Tails hovered in the air with the Miles Electric clasped in his hands. "The Space shuttle is just north ahead of here, and there's we need someone to hold of Infinite." Tails said.

"We'll do it. I'm sure that we can distract Infinite long enough for you guys to grab a shuttle," Vector said the rest of the Chaotix nodded in agreement.

"We'll be fine," Espio said calmly withdrawing his kunai. "Besides rescuing Sonic is the goal of the mission."

Shadow clenched his teeth looking up at the approaching black blur. He'd come here to get his revenge on Infinite to make the jackal pay for what he did to him and the rest of the world, but for now, saving Sonic was their top priority. He could get revenge on Infinite another time.

"We need to go now," Gadget said. "We haven't come all this way just to fail."

Gadget, Kaito, Shadow, Tails, and Rouge broke away, heading in the direction of the space shuttle the Chaotix prepared themselves to engage against the masked monster, for they immediately had to avoid several blasts of red energy raining down seeing Infinite hovering there.

"Look at you scurrying about like pathetic insects," Infinite sneered. "It's a hopeless situation, and you're still choosing to delay your inevitable demise."

"Yeah, well we're a team, and we'll go down fighting!"

The jackal simply smirked underneath his mask. Espio responded by throwing several kunai aimed at the jackal when the distorted noise sounded briefly with several more clones hovering in the place. The kunai passed through the glitching clones harmlessly the blades clattering to the ground.

Charmy was being pursued by a couple more of the clones hovering int he air seeing two of the clones come racing at him; he ducked at the last moment grinning as the clones collide with each other vanishing into particles.

Vector unleashed several bubblegum blasts the attack colliding with the clones the jackal stayed in the air an amused smirk firing of a small laser at the gum which exploded covering the crocodile in the pink stinky substance. Espio hurried over to Vector pulling at the little pink wads of gum stuck to the crocodile's body.

"So then this is what you mean by a team going down together," Infinite said. "I think I can honor that request."

Suddenly a sharp, searing pain seared up his backside. The jackal yelped in pain the sound muffled by his mask twisting his whole body around to see Charmy grinning up at him. While Infinite focusing his attention on Vector, the bee had stung him on his backside.

"Hah! Take that; you masked freak!"

Infinite lunged for the bee who flew out of range ignoring the searing pain emitting from his backside for Espio and Charmy had gotten Vector free the four combatants stood glaring at each other a loud vibration tore through the whole of Spaceport the jackal looked around in confusion seeing the broad smile on Charmy's face.

"They made it!"

Infinite swung out a wave of red energy knocking the Chaotix back into a pile of snow. They weren't even worth the effort to finish off in the jackal's mind. He ascended into the air seeing the massive orange and white space shuttle lifting off from the ground.

"You were just a distraction," Infinite snarled. "You're the type of rabble that's not even worth finishing off."

The jackal fired off one last wave of red energy at the Chaotix knocking them down again. He made sure to adjust his mask again before he flew off in the direction away from Spaceport to carry out the other set of orders that the Doctor had given him.

The Chaotix watched him go with Espio glaring after the retreating black dot in the sky.

The thrust that emitted from the space shuttle's engines powered the space shuttle into the air the ground rapidly shrinking. Gadget looked out of the window in wonder as the space shuttle passed through the atmosphere the vast void of space stretched out before the wolf's eyes. Rouge, Kaito, and Shadow glared at each other briefly.

A look of pure hatred was in Kaito's eyes, his fingers resting on the hilt of his sword, his tail swishing from side to side.

"You killed several members of my squad and my half-brother," Kaito growled pinning his ears back against his head. "I will never forgive you,"

"I know that it's too soon for forgiveness and I don't expect it, but I suggest that we call a truce for now," Shadow replied. "For now I suggest that we focus on the mission at hand."

Kaito quietly grunted in response walking away from Shadow going to stand at the window next to Gadget.

"Okay, we'll need to make a plan to rescue Sonic." Tails said, calling everyone over to the table where Gadget felt his anxiety slightly rise before he pushed it down again.

They were on their way to rescue Sonic at last and bring hope back to Mobius. Gadget inhaled deeply his chest rising and falling relieving some of his anxiety, no matter what happened, everyone on board this space shuttle was going to do everything they can to bring both Sonic back home safely.

* * *

 _Author's note This had to be one of the longest chapters of this fic just over 4000 then Kaito is our mystery jackal, and I do try to keep my work mostly sticking to canon, and one of the things that diverge from canon is the fact that some members of the Jackal Squad survived Shadow's attack. I like these guys, and they are another bunch of character that I wanted to expand on._

 _As for how Kaito and three other members of the Jackal Squad survived you'll have to wait and see who the three survivors are._

 _It was also my intention to the end the Shadow is evil and working for Eggman again plot in this chapter and if I had, to be honest, I felt like I dragged it out long enough._

 _Things will start to get better for Sonic, and we're not going to see Infinite for a while._

 _As always Suggestions/opinions and reviews are welcome and appreciated and I'll see you guys with the next chapter soon._


	12. Siege on the Death Egg part 1

_Author's note Okay I know that things aren't looking good for Sonic. :( but things are going to be looking up for him soon._

 _Once more I have to say thanks to Yami Chaos 27, TGN, SpiderDom 321, SharpDragonKlaw, and bajy for the reviews. I also to have give a big thank you to everyone who has left a favorite or a follow on this story and it's thanks to your support that this story is where it is today. Thank you all so much._

* * *

The Death Egg. A giant space station in the likeness in the mad scientists' image. It was a vast gray sphere with a pair of eyes indented into the gray surface along with the doctor's trademark mustache and a broad smile. The Death Egg had been rebuilt many times over the course of Sonic and Eggman's long bitter feud with each other. This time however several orange and white ships clustered near it in tight formations. The Death Egg hovered in the depths of space the gray space station sticking out like a sore thumb against the black void of space.

However, apart from a weapon. It also served as a much more sinister purpose. It also served as a prison for the captured Mobians where many had already lost their lives aboard this orbital death trap there were rumors Sonic the Hedgehog was a prisoner on board the Death Egg though many of them dismissed the rumors that Sonic was aboard the space station.

The Death Egg was the ultimate symbol of Eggman's reign. Eggman made sure that everyone on Mobius could see the giant space station. The mad scientist wanted everyone on Mobius to remember for all eternity just who was in charge in Mobius and fighting back was futile. The large orange and white space shuttle traveled through the void of space the fleet parted briefly allowing the space shuttle to slip in through on its course to the Death Egg.

No one realized that everything was about to change. An event was about to happen aboard the Death Egg that potentially could shift the tide of war in favor of a small group consisting of determined Mobians.

Tense that was the word Gadget would use to describe the atmosphere in the space shuttle. A small plan lay stretched out over the table with Rouge, Shadow, Tails, and Kaito gathered around it the communicator the image showed Knuckles on it.

"All right, then I will admit that having the rescue team split up is a setback," Knuckles said. "However, I've sent Silver and Omega out into the field to retrieve the Chaotix."

Knuckle's face on the communicator turned to face Shadow. Discovering that Shadow hadn't betrayed them was a shock. For most of the Resistance members, they would have to swallow their pride and apologize to Rouge for being suspicious. The guardian suspected that their apology would consist mostly of gems and some hastily put together words.

"Let's go over the plan one more time," Knuckles said. "We're only going to have one chance to save Sonic. If this rescue mission fails…." Knuckles didn't need to finish his sentence. Just by looking at the two-way screen everyone had the same severe expressions on their faces. For the last six months, it had been a living nightmare with everyone believing that Sonic was genuinely dead, especially with no one to stop Eggman from expanding his grip on the world.

"I'll hack into the Death Egg's mainframe and locate where Sonic and the other prisoners are held on board the Death Egg," Tails added in."We'll also attempt to rescue as many prisoners as we can."

"Shadow and I will hold of Eggman's forces to give all of you as much time as possible," Rouge said. "I doubt that Kaito would want to be part of the second team."

Kaito met Shadow's eyes. He turned his head away a small scowl forming on his muzzle folding his arms over his chest, his tail wrapping around his legs in defiance. The jackal ran a pair of fingers over the small fragment of the gem embedded in his chest; his mind was wandering over to where the other three members of his squad were. Zerinn was dead. His heart ached with grief for the loss of his only family member. There was a mission now, and he had to remain on task.

"Gadget and Kaito will cause a distraction," Knuckles said making his instructions clear. "We'd also like some answers to that gem in your chest Kaito."

It wasn't a request. It was a demand. Knuckles saw the jackal's chest rise and fall. Knuckles knew that if the jackal weren't willing to speak the truth, then he would be treated as a potential enemy of the Resistance. There was the matter of that strange gem Eggman had found, the gemstone, giving him a crucial advantage in this war.

"Fine." Kaito sighed. "The name of the gem that Eggman discovered is called the Phantom Ruby. All I honestly know about it is that it creates Illusions that mess with a person's mind and three other members of the Jackal Squad all bear a fragment of the Phantom Ruby in their chest."

The tension grew in the space shuttle. The Resistance members stood still shock lining on their faces for even Knuckles was stunned into silence until Gadget found his voice struggling to get the words out to his adoptive brother. He couldn't shake the feeling that the answer was one he didn't want to hear.

"Has he made more copies of this Phantom Ruby?"

"Yes. Eggman has made copies of the Phantom Ruby."

A wave of dread washed over the Space shuttle. Knuckles slammed a fist into the small wooden desk near him, ignoring the scolding he received from Amy before he put on a stoic expression. Seeing their leader lose brief control of his emotions before he let out a low sigh the silence fell over the small group when Tails announced that they were approaching the Death Egg.

"Just remain focused and please just bring Sonic home safely," Amy said. "He's important to all of us, and we just want him to be safe."

"We're going to be out of communication range soon." Tails said.

The static crackling began to get louder signaling that they would soon be out of the range of communication between them and the space shuttle slowly approached the Death Egg the smaller orange, and white ships parted to allow them access. The first part of their mission was over. Now came the hard part infiltrating the Death Egg itself.

* * *

Meanwhile, far back on Mobius's surface over the grassy plains just north of Park Avenue, Silver flew in the air looking down to see Omega running ahead on the ground. If there was one thing that Silver came to understand about Omega, was that Omega is the last E series robot that Eggman had ever created after one of his older robots E 102 Gamma went rouge destroying the rest of the E series line before he was terminated in one last battle.

"So they made it to the Space shuttle then? Oh, thank goodness." Silver was speaking into the communicator in his hand.

"Yes, however, the Chaotix decided to remain behind to delay Infinite, and Vector says that they're pursuing Infinite now." Amy sighed.

Silver let out a low sigh. He should've gone with them. Surely his telekinesis would've come in useful. If only he'd gone the mission to Spaceport. The telekinetic hedgehog heard the whispers the looks of awe in his direction. He was second in command of the Resistance. There was no way that he couldn't afford to be assigned on a dangerous mission where there was a chance Eggman would capture him.

Silver busied himself keeping an eye on Omega who was busy looking for Eggman's robots. Silver had seen first hand the damage Omega unleashed in his path. Omega wiped out several unlucky Egg Pawns in his way. Silver watched Omega's destructive handiwork. He couldn't help but feel a little uneasy that such a trigger-happy robot was on the Resistance's side.

"He certainly is destructive."

Suddenly a black blur racing at supersonic speeds came charging towards him slamming into him. The collision happened so fast nearly knocking the telekinetic hedgehog senseless. All Silver saw was a brief glimpse of a chrome mask with a single eye veiled behind a sheet of red glass, glaring at him before a strange, indescribable noise filled the air. A cold sensation flooded Silver's senses as a blue liquid filled his vision submerging him, and it pulled him down towards the ground seeing the black and white blur racing on ahead leaving a trail of red light behind him.

 _That was Infinite! What did he do?!"_

Gravity had taken over as Silver felt the unwelcome water rushing into his lungs, throat, and stomach. His brain sent frantic signals to the rest of his body for him to get some air into his lungs. He was going to die. He felt his heart beating trying to break free of the suffocating liquid surrounding him.

The terrifying plunge seemed to go on for forever until he felt his left side, colliding with the hard ground the blob of water breaking apart from him leaving Silver coughing up water and gasping for air. His ears were ringing; he painfully rolled onto his side feeling a sharp stabbing pain in his ribs.

"I am proceeding with extermination! Subject targeted as Chaos. God of Destruction!"

Omega's loud voice cut through the air. Silver blearily lifted his head, seeing the flash of red and black the sound of Omega's weaponry going off. Omega was targeting the same blue blob that nearly drowned him, he got to his feet, wincing at the pain trying his best to ignore a splitting headache turning his head ever so slightly seeing the Chaotix come hurrying over to Silver's position the white hedgehog was hoisted to his feet shaking his head slightly.

"Are you alright Silver? Did you see what attacked you?" Espio asked. Omega ran ahead of the small group firing off several more rounds of weaponry at the blob of water, noticing for the first time a pulsing brain was in the center of the blob dodging every one of Omega's strikes.

"What is that thing?"

As if to answer Silver's question the blob of water stopped moving to rise off the ground. It was a watery humanoid shaped with a pair of large appendages hanging behind of the thing's head the pair of bright green pupil-less eyes staring right at the Chaotix, Silver and Omega the three of them looked over at the God of Destruction.

"It's Chaos the God of Destruction!" Silver breathed. He'd heard stories from the members of the Resistance how they'd encountered Chaos several times, and the God of Destruction was the most feared out of Eggman's army. Chaos' appearance has been a mystery for the last time he'd appeared it had involved a long battle against Super Sonic in the flooded ruins of Station Square pacifying Perfect Chaos resealing him within the Master Emerald.

Silver wanted to scream in frustration. "No way we lost several of our troops the last time we fought against Chaos!" Silver remembered sitting in the almost destroyed library of his future poring over a document detailing the various Gods of Mobius. Light and Dark Gaia, Solaris, and Chaos. He'd recalled reading about the echidnas being wiped out by the God of Destructions' rage.

"We can take'em! Go for the brain!"

At Vector's command, all hell broke loose. Chaos suddenly surged forward raising his arms slamming against the ground, sending up droplets of water soaking Charmy's wings rendering him flightless. Chaos lashed out with his arms catching Silver across the jaw knocking him senseless.

Espio ran around the battlefield searching for an opening to attack Chaos' brain sending out several shurikens only for the pointed stars to be scattered away easily.

"Don't let your guard down." Espio said, hurrying over, grabbing Charmy before the God of Destruction landed another, possibly fatal blow on the bee getting him out of the way of the force of the attack. Chaos knocked Espio away from Charmy the two of the chameleon away dropping the bee. They were in harm's way with Chaos turns his attention towards them.

"Oh man, we're still tired from fighting that Infinite creep."

"Get behind me boys!"

Vector hurried over to where his teammates were grabbing both of Chaos hands holding them in a vice grip. The God of Destruction bubbled caught off guard by the sudden intrusion. Then he began to push back, overpowering the crocodile gritting his teeth, his knees began to wobble from the force of the deity's grip before a telltale cyan blue glow appeared around Chaos holding him in place.

"Now! Go for the brain Omega!"

Silver held his hands, keeping his focus trained on the frozen God of destruction. Chaos was petrified those wide green eyes frozen in pools of what Silver could guess was fear.

"Commencing extermination protocol!"

The following barrage was intense as Omega launched several missiles raining down onto Chaos being followed by the rest of Omega's ammunition the force of the blow knocked Silver away breaking his hold. Silver landed face first on the ground as he picked himself up again noticing that there was a smoking crater where Chaos once stood, and the only thing that remained of the God of Destruction were several small red cubes floating away.

"Whoa! Omega made Chaos go boom!" Charmy cried out shaking the water off his wings flying over the small crater the small cloud of smoke dissipated away, leaving no traces at all of the God of Destruction who moments ago was on the verge of overpowering Vector.

"Target Chaos God of Destruction eliminated," Omega said blankly. "Chaotix retrieved. We will now head back to the base."

Omega began to walk away with Vector following him muttering that it had been too close a call and Silver and Espio lingered back looking at the crater.

"You didn't hear that strange ringing?" Espio asked. "You did well to stop Chaos from attacking us."

"What ringing?" Silver replied bewildered. "I was nearly knocked senseless by Omega's attack, so I didn't hear anything."

"It's nothing, but still it could be a clue to how Sonic was defeated." The ninja's keen gaze swept over the area one last time to make sure that no one was following them before they broke into a run heading back towards the base. Silver couldn't shake the feeling that while the mission was complete. He couldn't ignore the pit of dread in growing in his stomach.

* * *

Gadget heard the alarms all over the place running down the long hallway with Kaito at his side. The interior of the Death Egg was far more extensive than he thought it would be. Long twisting metallic pathways were descending into other parts of the vast space station. Massive steel black towers were positioned right in the center of the large rooms they passed through with those giant red eyes tracking their every movement.

The flamberge was drawn hacking away at any robots that got in their way. Tails flew overhead destroying more robots his fingers flying over the Miles Electric his eyes darting forth from the screen to his surroundings for Shadow and Rouge were off somewhere else diverting the majority of Eggman's forces away from them.

"I've done it!" Tails cheered a small smile on the kit's face. "I've located where Sonic is!"

Gadget nodded, running ahead pointing his Burst Wispon the stream of flames shooting out of the end of his Wispon destroying several robots.

"That's great! Do you know where he is?" Gadget asked with excitement in his voice.

"Yes, he's in the northern Prison cells, and if I can just hack into the system, I'll disable his Chaos inhibitor rings giving him a chance to fight back."

"Maybe hope will come back to Mobius and..."

A low, loud humming noise echoed from behind them. Kaito skidded to a halt, his large ears twitching listening for the source of the sound. Something was watching them in the distance the low hum of an engine and Tails paused in uncertainty coming to land on the ground.

"Wait, a second are those eyes?!" Kaito queried.

Gadget and Tails noticed the pair of crimson eyes watching them from the shadows getting closer to something was racing towards them at supersonic speed. A strange robotic hedgehog erupted from the shadows, making a beeline straight for Gadget his claws extended colliding with the wolf's jaw scoring a direct hit, sending Gadget crumpling to the ground a trickle of blood running down the wolf's chin.

"Gadget!" Kaito hurried over his flamberge raised feeling the robot jab him in the stomach knocking the breath out of him.

"Hold on!"

Tails dived trying to land a hit on Metal Sonic. He knew that it would be futile since Metal Sonic was able to keep up with Sonic the metallic claws lashed out again roughly grabbing the kit's tails slamming him down hard into the metal walkway the Miles Electric destroyed when a metallic foot came crashing down onto it shattering it into pieces.

"No, it can't end here." Gadget wheezed slowly getting to his feet, pausing glancing over the railing down at the vast grey arena which consisted of several hexagonal like patterns making up the stage. He heard the low moans of pain coming from Tails and Kaito pushing themselves to their feet looks of determination.

"We will not let Metal Sonic stop us."

Metal Sonic's response was to rub the small spike consisting of his nose with a few beeps. Gadget swallowed nervously. Metal Sonic was Eggman's prize creation. He remembered seeing the damage that this robot had done on several news channels whenever they broadcasted the latest Eggman attacks on towns.

All four combatants took one look at each other than charging towards each other, eager to do battle once more on the walkway.

Sonic let out a low moan hearing the alarms that blared in the distance the small stoic frown, looking around the cells at the loud sirens that were giving him a headache the whole area bathed in red light. There was indeed something going on today. Several Egg Pawns were alongside the outside of the prisoner's cells.

"The Resistance has infiltrated the Death Egg! All Egg Pawns intercept that blasted Resistance rabble now!"

Sonic smirked hearing Eggman's frustrated screams through the announcement system. Maybe things would finally stop going in Eggman's favor after all.

"It's the end for you Sonic," Zavok's deep voice echoed through the air snapping Sonic out of his thoughts. The massive Zeti stopped in front of Sonic's cell a smirk on his face.

"Today's your execution, and I will revel in your pain and despair."

Sonic fought the urge to roll his eyes. Sonic should have known Eggman would kill him eventually, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. The Alarms continued to bellow as the cell doors vanished and the Chaos ring inhibitors vanished from his wrists and ankles.

Sonic grinned flexing his legs giving his cramped muscles a chance to stretch his legs.

"Yeah, well, if you want to kill me, you'll have to catch me, slowpoke!"

Zavok lunged out to grab Sonic who smirked leaping over the Zeti's head past his sweeping horns vaulting over the vaulting over the railing landing on the giant hexagonal platforms. Sonic let out a tired grin, seeing the look of shock and awe appearing on the faces of the prisoners.

"No way I can't believe it! Sonic is alive!"

A single prisoner saw the flash of deep blue fur jumping down into the arena for more prisoners came racing to the bars of the cell.

"It is! Get him Sonic!"

"I will! Don't worry; I promise the citizens of Mobius that our home will be ours once more!" Sonic called back with confidence in his voice. He'd tortured for the last six months being forced to watch Mobius suffer under Eggman's grasp, but there was one thing that Eggman failed to do. It was to break Sonic's spirit.

Zavok let out a low growl placing two of his fingers to his temple. In response to the Zeti's unheard call, a loud mechanical humming echoed from all around the area. Most of the prisoners collapsed their hands over their eyes to protect their hearing. A massive Buzz Bomber slowly lowered itself down to Zavok's level the Zeti urged it downwards as it hovered over the arena the Zeti sported a sinister grin.

"Now then Sonic you can do me a favor," Zavok grinned sadistically. "I want to hear you scream in fear and pain."

* * *

 _Author's note This was a tornado of a chapter with so much going on and this is the first two-parter of the story. I wanted to give Silver, and Omega some action since they've been sitting on the sidelines and that I hadn't forgotten about them. Things are going to go off the rails later on in the story._

 _I also wanted to do something with the Chaotix to show what they've been up to after that they left Spaceport._

 _As a little personal gripe that I have with Forces is the fact we were cheated out of a Chaos boss fight. I do have more plans for Chaos to make him more of a threat. Also writing out the Chaos and Metal Sonic fight scenes were a lot of fun especially from both Gadget's and Silver's perspectives since they had never encountered these guys before and the chapter was getting a little long, so I split it up into two parts._

 _Kaito is going to be holding a grudge against Shadow since he thinks that his half-brother is dead and I won't spoil things, but he and Gadget are going to encounter Infinite. ;)_

 _A little bit of trivia, the giant mechanical Buzz Bomber that Zavok rides in his boss battle is called the Death Queen._

 _As always Opinions/ suggestions and reviews are welcome as always and I will be back to talk with you guys again after the next update **.**_


	13. Siege on the Death Egg part 2

_Author's note. Well, I apologize for the slight delay when it came to this story. I was just wanted to say thank you for being patient, but I'm back now and hopefully, there won't be too many delays going forward._

 _I can't believe that this fic has over 20 favs and follows. I genuinely appreciate all of the support that everyone who has viewed this fic has received along with the people who have faved and followed it. I appreciate your support profoundly and a big thank to all of you._

 _I have to give a huge thank you to The GameNgyener, SpiderDom321, Alexandria Prime, Keyblade Writer of the Dawn, Yami Chaos 27, Sharp Dragon Klaw, the mystery guest, bajy and stardust 1470 for the reviews._

 _Disclaimer I do not own the rights to Sonic the Hedgehog since it belongs to Sega._

* * *

To both Rouge and Shadow, the second that the alarms went off all hell broke loose. Rouge smirked as the two of them race through the long, twisting corridors of the Death Egg. The loud call of the alarm blared all throughout the Death Egg. Waves of Egg Pawns Buzz Bombers and purple ostrich robots raced to meet the intruders.

Rouge smirked drill kicking through several of the Buzz Bombers destroying them effortlessly. Shadow raced on ahead plowing through a line of Eggpawns his fingers reaching back for the Chaos Emerald nestled in his quills. The familiar, reassuring weight of the Chaos Emerald put Shadow at ease. He didn't want to say it out loud, but knowing that Rouge knew that he was no longer an enemy, it felt good fighting by her side again.

"Chaos Spear!"

Several yellow spears of light tore through the air, slashing through robotic hulls causing the robots to explode on the spot with Shadow darting landing savage attacks on the robots that remained standing preparing to charge their lasers only for their futile attack to come to an end. Shadow and Rouge continued their assault coming to a stop in front of the prison cells. Most of the prisoners sat huddled together. Mothers clasped their children close to them. Their fathers stood between whatever threats would dare to threaten their families.

The sound of explosions that came down from further up the corridor set all of them on edge. They saw a pair of shapes standing on the other side of the cell doors; maybe just maybe their torment would be over at the hands of Eggman. The bright blue bars that were holding the prisoners vanished. There were cautious mummers as several prisoners stepped forward exclaiming in wonder holding onto a desperate hope that they were finally moments away from freedom.

"Hey, I hate to admit it, but Fox boy did a good job in disarming these prison cells."

Shadow ignored Rouge's comment stepped into the cell the prisoners inside flinched back away from Shadow expressions of fear on their faces for the ones at the far backdropped to their knees their arms wrapping against their legs closing their eyes just waiting for the end. Any chance that they had of freedom died in that instant for one of Eggman's allies was standing between them and freedom.

"Traitor! We're not accepting help from someone who helped kill Sonic!"

An older hedgehog with light blue fur stormed to the front of the group with an unreadable expression. The bright green dress was tattered. The hedgehog's hazel eyes were ablaze with fury. She waved several of the prisoners back behind her taking a defiant step towards Shadow. Despite her malnourished state, the hedgehog looked ready to take on anyone that intended to inflict harm on her or any of the prisoners.

"I will die to protect them from you."

The old hedgehog spread her arms out in front of the prisoners. She stared down Shadow without any hint of fear in her eyes. Some of the other prisoners silently began to line up alongside the old hedgehog matching her silent defiance.

Shadow gritted his teeth. The prisoners didn't understand that due to a well-crafted replica of him attacking cities they genuinely believed Shadow was the enemy. Hardly surprising thanks to a masked jackal. Shadow was pissed even more now. His anger began to build whenever he thought about Infinite. Also during his travels in the last six months, he recalled arriving at the razed towns, the dead bodies that lay strewn about the area the burning buildings.

Infinite would pay for everything he'd ever done. That included all the pain and suffering he alongside the doctor had inflicted upon Mobius. He wanted to be the one to kill Infinite himself.

"It was a fake Shadow that Eggman created to fool you all."

Rouge explained everything to the prisoners, some of them were dropping their hostile expressions, though most of them were wary they looked over at Shadow. The old hedgehog nodded slowly, keeping her gaze fixed on Shadow.

"It appears that we all owe you an apology Shadow." The old hedgehog said smiling. The small crowd slowly nodded in agreement feeling at ease that the Ultimate Lifeform wasn't going to kill them all.

Shadow turned on his heel his fingers reaching up towards the Chaos Emerald nestled in his quills. On the metal walkway, a pair of frantic footsteps echoed off it the young stranger rounded a corner his turquoise eyes wide with fear. His fur shone with the distinct sheen of sweat he had to bend over placing his hands on his knees forcing oxygen into his lungs.

"Balti! Breathe now," Rouge took several steps forward, placing a gentle hand on Balti's shoulder. "What is it? Do you know where Sonic is now?"

Balti inhaled deeply in and out taking several moments to catch his breath. He looked up to see Shadow leaving the cell with several prisoners in tow. Balti lets out a little gasp of fear. His knees began to shake his hands fumbling to grab the Hover Wispon that he'd found lying around. He shuddered ever so slightly recalling that he picked it up from a dead body in one of the cells.

"Miss Rouge! Get back; it's Shadow!" Balti cried out, turning his Hover Wispon aimed right at the Ultimate Lifeform who cocked an eyebrow stoically silently glaring Balti down.

"Balti sweetie relax. Shadow never turned on anyone. It turns out that Old rotten Eggman was using a fake Shadow." Rouge said. "I just received word from one of our GUN operatives. They've sent a small unit to escort us once we have rescued Sonic and they'll be waiting for us outside of the Spaceport."

"Oh, uh, okay," Balti lowered the Hover Wispon his ears drooping slightly against his skull. "Anyhow Miss Rouge Sonic is busy engaging Zavok, and the Rookie along with a jackal and Tails is engaging Metal Sonic as we speak."

A few moments passed as Balti's news sank in as Rouge scowled ever so slightly tapping a heart-shaped boot against the hard-metallic walkway. "Well, that's not good. It means that Eggman's caught on to our presence."

Shadow turned to face Rouge a question lingering in his mind. Deep down, he was relieved that Rouge was safe. His mind wandered over to Omega. The last he'd seen of Omega was the robot getting blasted out of the side of the Arsenal Pyramid. There was a slim chance that someone would have found the E series robot and hopefully repaired him.

"Tails repaired Omega," Rouge said, answering Shadow's question. "I'll stay here with Balti and get these prisoners to the space shuttle. It sounds like Sonic and the others can use a hand."

Rouge turned to Balti, who already busy gathering up the prisoners to escort them to the space shuttle. His face was set in a determined expression already beginning to lead Prisoners away before he came to a stop, turning to face Rouge a question on his lips.

"Uh, Miss Rouge do you know if he can handle things on his own?"

"Don't worry about him, sweetie," Rouge said smiling. "For now we need to focus on getting these prisoners to the space shuttle and preparing it to get Sonic and everyone else out of here."

Balti nodded, he and the bat set to work escorting the prisoners back to the space shuttle. Balti couldn't help but allow a small grin to cross his face.

Shadow raced ahead down the metallic pathway at a supersonic run his mind focused on the task at hand. He had no idea how Sonic would react to him after being attacked by a skillfully crafted fake of him. Shadow shook his head from side to side dismissing the notion.

"He'll have to face the truth, and it's time to set things straight."

* * *

The sound of the Death Queen's hovering wings cut through the air. Several small hatches opening in the sides of the wall of the arena several more Buzz bombers raced towards Sonic who dodged them all curling up into a ball spin dashing through them destroying them effortlessly.

"Impudent runt. Your end will be slow and painful!"

Zavok directed the Death Queen hovering over the area as Sonic looked up, seeing the shadow fall over him. He spied Zavok glaring down at him, his tail twitching tracking Sonic's every movement.

Suddenly a vibration tore through the arena nearly knocking Sonic off his feet the force of the Death Queen slamming into the metallic plates making up the stage getting its stinger wedged in the ground. The situation gave Sonic an idea. Crouching down ignoring the screaming pain of his leg muscles he catapulted high into the air curling up again homing attack right in Zavok his quills slicing through the Zeti's flesh, hearing him scream in pain the gush of blood and red cubes began to leak from his arm.

Sonic heard the low scream of pain coming from Zavok. Sonic turned around, his fists clenched. Zavok turned to glare at him with a malicious expression on his face. The stream of blood was hard to see against his crimson skin. Zavok hissed clutching his arm glowering at Sonic.

Wait, why are red cubes coming from Zavok? That's not possible.

Sonic was knocked out of his ruminations seeing Zavok leap of the Death Queen landing on the ground, making a sun for Sonic who ducked at the last second. The Zeti let out a bellow of pure rage making his frustration known to most of the prisoners who continued to cheer for Sonic showing their undying loyalty for Mobius' hero who had foiled Eggman's attempts to claim Mobius and turn it into a dead robotic wasteland.

"Smack him one Sonic!"

"Make that brute pay!"

"Sonic! Sonic!"

Zavok glowered at the prisoners. They shrank back against the cell avoiding the Zeti's glare. The Zeti placed two of his fingers against his forehead signaling the Death Queen to swoop down again towards him. He jumped up landing on the robot's head hovering just out of reach for the blue blur to attack him. Sonic skidded to a stop folding his arms across his chest.

"What you're too afraid to fight me on one on one?" Sonic jeered.

Zavok's response was to fire a yellow laser pursuing Sonic across the ground. Sonic broke into a supersonic run careful to not get too close to the edge of the arena. If he fell, it was going to be a long way down to his death.

Months of torture finally began to catch up with him. His leg muscles screamed out begging him to stop and rest, while his brain told him to keep going, the heat of the laser was getting closer to his backside. The smell of burning fur reached Sonic's nostrils. Sonic forced himself to stay ahead of the searing hot laser breathing a sigh of relief when it stopped.

Sonic stood there breathing sweat running down his dirty fur his emerald green eyes fixated on the mocking smile of the Zeti in his direction. His visions began to shift out of focus. The first wave of dizziness hit him hard as it was a struggle for him to keep his eyes open. His legs began to wobble, the effects of his torture for the last six months were finally catching up to him, and he sank to his knees the smell of burning flesh alerted him to the laser scorching the peach fur along his right arm leaving a painful burn behind.

"Oh no, you don't!"

Sonic forced himself to keep moving away from the heat of the laser blasts. He knew if he stopped running his death would come sooner and then any chances of freeing Mobius would die along with Sonic.

Meanwhile, high up on the bridge, the battle against Metal Sonic wasn't going so well. Gadget felt the searing heat coming from the jet engine mounted on Metal Sonic rushing past him singing the fur on his left arm. The noise from the engine nearly deafened him. Tails tried to attack him feeling the robotic hedgehog's claws dig deep into his shoulder the flash of green as Kaito hacked away at the robotic hill his sword coming away in a shower of sparks.

"Damn it! This guy's unstoppable." Kaito hissed rubbing at a small gash on his arm. The three of them stood looking over at Metal Sonic who took several more steps towards them no traces of mercy at all in his red optics.

Metal Sonic shot off into the sky shooting over several yellow balls of electricity, forcing Gadget and Kaito to dodge the attacks they struck the ground. Tails pursued Metal Sonic landing several hits on him for the robotic hedgehog to spin making a lunge for him which Tails ducked and weaved away from the attack.

He turned hearing large metallic wings that were beating the air; he spied Zavok sitting astride a giant mechanical bee looking down with glee at a cobalt blue figure standing there his cobalt fur covered in dirt staring down Zavok in defiance. It was unmistakably Sonic. No other hedgehog had the same cobalt blue coat despite it having patches of dust on it.

Tails' heart raced with excitement. Sonic was alive; he would never forget the pure joy that he felt in that moment seeing Sonic alive and well. His adoptive brother injured, but there was that spark of defiance in his eyes, which would never fade out no matter what happened now.

"Sonic!"

Sonic jerked his head in the direction of Tails' voice, seeing nothing, but relief in the young kit's eyes. He mouthed something that was too far away for Tails to hear as Metal Sonic slammed into Tails the heavyweight sending the two them on a collision course for the ground. The cold hard metallic floor slammed into Tails' face nearly knocking his teeth out as he was dimly aware of Sonic slamming into Metal Sonic who turned his head towards him regarding his organic counterpart with contempt.

"We need to get down there now!"

Gadget readied his grappling hook wrapping an arm around Kaito pointing it right at the Death Queen. The wolf was aware of his heartbeat beginning to speed up in the sense of worry that he would miss, and his failure would send both him and Kaito plummeting to their deaths. It was a scenario he didn't want to come true, and he heard the small sigh coming from Kaito.

"Gadget. I don't know how to say this, but Zerinn and the rest of the Jackal Squad are dead." Kaito said, his voice cracking with emotion the small tear slipping from his eye.

The news had a profound effect on Gadget who paused in mid aim his eyes wide. He let out a low sigh, his eyes closed for the briefest of moments. A sharp stabbing pain struck him in the heart. A short memory of a jackal sitting next to him with an arm wrapped around a small smile fixed on his face.

"Kaito h-how did they die?" Gadget choked out.

"A black and red hedgehog killed the rest of the Squad, and I failed Zerinn." Kaito closed his eyes in grief. The silence hung between them for a few more moments. Gadget inhaled profoundly clearing his mind. He could grieve later, and he felt a small spark of anger in his heart aimed at the Ultimate Lifeform. Gadget didn't know Shadow all that well. His brain slowly processed the information as he would find a way to go after Shadow, and at least try to avenge his friends' deaths at his hands.

"I had an older half-brother, and I failed him," Gadget breathed out gritting his teeth in pure determination. "I know what it's like to lose a sibling and I will get you both down there. I'm not going to miss."

Gadget took another deep breath. The wolf aimed his grappling hook at the pair of curved horns pressing the button yanking both him and Kaito through the air the wind whipping past their ears the roar of Metal Sonic's engine wasn't too far behind them. Metal Sonic had every intention of killing Sonic.

"Don't you dare lay a hand on Tails Metal."

Sonic heard Zavok yell out to see a red wolf and a jackal launching a joint attack on Zavok the Zeti roared swiping at them both the wolf ducked at the last second. The jackal slashed Zavok with a knife landing another hit on the Zeti causing another stream of blood to well up, allowing a rush of cubes to gush out from the Zeti's arm who let out a loud bellow of pain.

"Chaos Control!"

Sonic looked up to see Shadow appear as if from nowhere, landing a roundhouse kick on Zavok. The Zeti staggered pausing to bend over, gasping for breath before he composed himself. He looked down at his muscular arms. Red cubes continued to leak out from his arms. The Zeti's anger was beginning to grow. For six months Sonic taunted him by refusing to break to the torture, and he glared at Tails who made a dive for him slapping him with his tails.

"No more humiliation and now prepare to die fox!"

Zavok urged the Death Queen higher in pursuit of Tails the hum of the mechanical wings grew louder prompting Tails to look back over his shoulder at the sight of the giant mechanical Buzz Bomber racing towards him with an insane look in Zavok's eyes.

"This time you won't escape," Zavok growled. "When Sonic has been torn to shreds, I will personally turn you into my robotic slave."

"Well, maybe as a tip don't leave a toothpick lying around!"

The Zeti slammed both of his fists together, letting out another bellow. The Death Queen closed in on Tails with Zavok chuckling evilly. If there was one thing that the Zeti was looking forward to the most was killing Tails and making him suffer.

"Shadow?"

Sonic flinched ever so slightly balling his fists, his face set into a slight scowl. It didn't matter to him if he was in this weakened state. He wasn't going to let Shadow believe that he would get away with his betrayal then he'd better think again.

"Don't get yourself worked up Sonic," Shadow said stoically. "It was a well-constructed fake that Infinite created of me. I would never break my promise to Maria."

Sonic relaxed unclenching his fists. He knew in that instant that Shadow was right. He turned to see the jackal who'd come down with the red wolf were working together to distract Metal Sonic.

"Come one I'll bet that I can take down Metal Sonic faster than you can."

Sonic shot like a blue bullet towards the battle. Shadow smirked racing after Sonic silently accepting his challenge.

Kaito spun around Metal Sonic was coming straight at him metallic claws that extended ready to inflict the killing blow on his targets. Kaito reached down for the magenta gem embedded in his chest he inhaled deeply. It was now, or never the only source of hope that remained was the Phantom Ruby fragment in his chest.

I must tap into this power. It drove Zerinn insane. Then it killed him. Kaito thought miserably.

Kaito swallowed nauseous about what was going to happen. Without a moment's hesitation, the red wave of energy swept out from Kaito's hands engulfing Metal Sonic the robot paused in his attack, shaking his head from side to side his claws digging away at the top of his head. He jolted out of the illusion-making a beeline for Sonic who smirked racing on to meet his metallic counterpart.

"We've been going at this a long time Metal," Sonic said grinning. "I can tell what you're going to do. Strange, isn't it?"

Metal Sonic said nothing. The robotic hedgehog slammed into Sonic again, the cold steel of Sonic's robotic doppelgänger brushed against Sonic's fur. Metal's red optics trained on Sonic. Shadow darted in landing a kick against the metallic hull ignoring the sharp stab of pain emitting from where he'd kicked Metal Sonic.

In response, Metal Sonic ascended into the air shooting of several energy balls causing the four combatants to scatter the energy balls dispersing against the ground. Suddenly a large shadow fell over the area. Shadow saw the Death Queen still hovering over the arena with Sonic tracking the mech's movements with his eyes a concerned expression on his face.

"Come on Tails just be safe little bro."

Tails flew around the area, dodging the laser that was searing long, twisting lines in the metal walls. Tails could feel his heart racing in fear. He up into the air above the Death Queen. He saw Zavok glaring at him. Tails clenched his fists. He recalled with a sick feeling in his gut that the last time that Sonic needed his help, he didn't run away precisely, but he couldn't do anything else to save his adoptive brother apart from pounding on Infinite's back.

"I'm not scared. I'm not scared. I can do this!"

Before Zavok could even react, Tails dropped down his tails slashing through the thin metallic casing of the Death Queen's wings the fragile wiring was severed in a shower of sparks causing the mech to lurch violently from one side to the other as both Tails and Zavok clung on to the mech. When all of a sudden it plunged from the air racing towards the arena where the fighting was going on.

"Scatter!" Shadow's shout caught their attention as Metal Sonic looked up only to see the Death Queen come crashing down on top of him causing him to vanish from sight. Both Zavok and Tails tumbled down, the Zavok grabbing onto Tails dragging him along with him as he landed roughly on the ground.

Zavok lay there panting on the ground his fingers still clasped around Tails' namesake. He lashed out with his razor sharp tipped claws scoring a direct hit running them through the orange Fur. Tails screamed in pain.

The sound alerted Sonic his horrified gaze traveled over to Tails lying on his side the deep lacerations ran down the right side of his body. Zavok stood up a little worse for wear, but grinning in satisfaction looking over at the fallen fox. Sonic gazed in horror at the scene playing out in front of him. His best friend was lying bleeding on the ground with Zavok taking several steps towards the kit with the intention to finish him off.

Sonic charged over to Zavok landing several kicks and punches to the Zeti. The blows were hard and furious as Sonic felt all the anger, all the rage that had been building up over the last six months unleashed on his tormentor. Zavok had just crossed the line in Sonic's mind. Zavok tried to ward off the blows to no avail for Sonic's rage was great and with every punch that landed the Zeti couldn't stand up to the onslaught.

"No one hurts Tails! It's payback time at last!"

With Sonic's last kick one of Zavok's horns was snapped off from his head with a loud crack. The force of the attack left the Zeti panting, for oxygen he was barely able to stand after the savage assault. Zavok tried in vain to get to his feet. His breath came out in short, pained gasps. He was defeated. Zavok looked down at his crimson hand the red cubes were leaking out of his body, he was beginning to glitch out even more now.

"Impossible," Zavok wheezed out. "You should've given in to your despair and pain."

With that Zavok slumped over to the ground before his entire body glitches out breaking apart in a shower of particles and red cubes the strange noise filled the area causing Sonic to lift his head up his eyes were wide. Shadow's attention was drawn to the sound again. He'd heard it a few times now.

"It's that sound again," Sonic said. "Just like that time whenever Infinite tortured me." Sonic mused to himself. His mind wandered back to the magenta gem embedded in Infinite's chest. "That gem I wonder can it cause illusions?"

"Tails!"

In his fury, Sonic had forgotten about Tails. Sonic hurried over to where his younger brother lay still. His eyes closed. The young kit's sides rose and fell unevenly. The deep cuts inflicted on Tails continued to bleed out, turning the fur on his body where'd he been scratched a deep red. Sonic ripped off one of his gloves aware of Kaito hurrying over ripping off his black glove as well, placing it on the young fox's chest in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Is he?" Kaito asked not daring to speak further.

"No, come on Tails. I'm sorry for not defeating Eggman sooner," Sonic whispered in horror. "Tails, please don't die on me." Sonic closed his eyes. His white glove slightly stained with the young fox's blood. He fought back the small tears threatening to leak out from his eyes at the sight of the young fox who lay there. All the visions that Sonic had experienced under the Influence of the Phantom Ruby of all of his friends dying. It was no illusion this was happening for real.

The silence that filled the area was loud. Most of the prisoners peered over the edge of the upper walkways their eyes glued to the scene of Sonic trying to stem the bleeding. The only sound was the wires sparking from the destroyed Death Queen. Kaito, Gadget, and Shadow stood not too far away with the Ultimate Lifeform watching in silence. Red eyes were fixed on the scene as Sonic heard a low moan seeing Tails stir ever so slightly, his eyes beginning to open.

"Sonic did I beat Zavok?" Tails asked weakly.

His question went unanswered. In a heartbeat, Sonic had drawn Tails into a tight embrace. There were cheers of happiness erupted from the prisoners followed by loud, uproarious applause.

Light blue eyes widened in happiness. Tails returned the embrace. The young kit had tears in his eyes. Sonic remained in his kneeling position. In that instant, he knew that Tails was still alive, but he needed medical help soon. Sonic kept a hand pressed on the kit's injuries. Tails simply buried his head in his chest, his small body shaking with the sobs he'd been holding back over the course of the last six months.

"You're alive," Tails whispered. "I never gave up hope that you were still alive."

"Tails! Oh man, thank goodness that you're okay!" Sonic said his voice cracking. "Never do something that dangerous again. If something happened to you, I don't know what I would've done."

Sonic bent down wrapping his arms drawing Tails into a tight hug, feeling all of the worry, the fear that'd built up over the last few months over whether or his little brother was safe was washed away. He could hear the kit sob ever so softly muttering his name over and over again the small kit's body was shaking all over with emotion.

"Hey, it's okay. I promise that things are going to start getting better okay little bro?"

"Yeah, they will."

Tails inhaled, feeling Sonic move his head ever so slightly letting Tail's head rest against his chest so he could hear the hedgehog's heartbeat. The soothing sound of Sonic's heartbeat helped Tails relax; he took in a deep breath. A pair of footsteps echoed off the metallic pathway as Sonic looked up, making eye contact with Gadget.

"So let me guess, you came with these guys to rescue me?"

"Didn't he feed you at all in the six months?" Gadget asked horrified.

"Nah it was just in the last month that he didn't feed me." Sonic wearily said, standing up with Tails carefully propping him up.

A sudden buzz came from the communicator. The wolf let out a low yelp fumbling the communicator; he pulled out hearing Knuckles' voice spilling out of the communicator.

"Hey, rookie! Have you been able to locate Sonic?"

"Oh sure don't even ask if I'm okay Knucklehead," Sonic said slightly. "Sonic! It's a relief that you're still alive."

There was a bit of a commotion as though someone had shoved Knuckles aside. A loud crash resonated in the background. "Sonic! I never gave up hope that you were alive!" Amy's voice laced with happiness crackled through the communicator.

"Amy well, it's good to hear your voice," Sonic said smiling. "I'm just glad to hear that you're okay."

Amy made a low sound, not one a love-struck lover, but a friend that was relieved to hear that Sonic was okay.

"Both Tails and I never gave up hope that you were still alive."

"Amy and Knuckles when I get back to Mobius I promise you that we will reclaim Mobius," Sonic said seriously. "It's a promise."

The peaceful moment between the group was interrupted by the sound of the loud alarms blaring through the area as the cell doors to the prison cells opened, allowing the prisoners to storm out in a mass exodus running about the Death Egg looking for an exit. Some of them were helping others that couldn't walk at all. Adding to the Chaos was the arrival of the Egg Pawns racing into the arena where within moments it was mass chaos.

"We need to get these prisoners out of here." Sonic struggled to stand only so sink down as Kaito bent down to pick him up. Shadow carefully gathered up Tails as well.

"We will, and we need to get you back to Mobius." Gadget said, shooting a brief glare at the back of Shadow's head who was already racing across a small metallic bridge connecting to the rest of the Death Egg.

"Hey! Everyone follow us!" Gadget called out hearing a few voices shout back to him as he broke into a run following the small band.

Thankfully the path to the Space shuttle was mostly clear. Shadow was the first one to race into the interior of the Space shuttle for its engines were already warming up. Gadget was next to enter the shuttle closely followed by Kaito. There were already several groups of prisoners inside as the hatch door closed with Egg Pawns firing away at the metallic hull to no avail.

With nothing to stop it. The Space shuttle with a loud roar coming from its engines taking off into the vast void of space carrying its precious cargo home. It was over the Resistance had succeeded in their goal of rescuing Sonic.

Eggman silently seethed with frustration and rage when he arrived down at the arena which was supposed to be Sonic's execution. Instead, thanks to the accursed Resistance it had become Sonic's salvation. It was chaos. The alarms were still blaring giving Eggman a headache. The silver metallic Egg pawns had secured some prisoners, forcing them at gunpoint back into their cells.

There was movement underneath the shattered remains of the Death Queen. Metal Sonic activated his black shield, forcing his way out from the wreckage of the Death Queen. Sparks jutted from several wires were exposed through the metallic casing. He stumbled a bit; his optics darted around the area looking for any signs of Sonic only for no trace of his organic counterpart at all.

The robot slammed a fist into the ground showing his displeasure at Sonic's escape.

It was a disaster, losing these many prisoners in such a short amount of time. The worst part of this whole incident was that Sonic was alive and his friends had succeeded in rescuing him it was sure to throw a wrench in his plans. Orbot hovered next to him. There was no doubt there were waves of pure unadulterated rage emitting from Eggman.

"Now boss watch your blood pressure," Orbot said calmly hoping to soothe his creator's temper. "Well, it was your fault in not killing Sonic sooner," Orbot said calmly. "You did brush of the Resistance as a threat."

"I should have killed Sonic when I had the chance!" Eggman paced around the ruined arena in anger. Metal Sonic appeared at his side with a series of low beeps communicating his displeasure at having a giant robotic bee come crashing down on top of him.

"Oh, shut up Metal Sonic," Eggman growled in irritation. "Well, at least they didn't destroy the Death Egg which is the main power source for the Phantom Ruby."

In all of his research, Eggman discovered much to his chagrin that the Phantom's Ruby's power wasn't as limitless as he'd assumed and he had to wonder if it applied to the finalized Phantom Ruby Prototype as well. A loud ringing came from the communicator which Orbot reached forward plucking it from the doctor's console in the Egg Mobile where the purple Chaos Emerald resided.

"Excuse me, boss, you have a call coming from Infinite on the line."

Great, it was another headache for Eggman. Eggman surveyed the smoking wreckage of the Death Queen his mind was elsewhere; he opened it seeing the jackal's face gazing back at him impassively.

"Eggman the disposal of the Phantom Ruby Prototypes is almost complete. There is just one more prototype at your old lab in Mystic Jungle."

"Don't just stand there!" Eggman yelled into the other end of the communicator. "That last prototype cannot fall into the hands of the Resistance!"

Infinite snarled lowering the communicator. His fists clenched in anger.

"Understood. I will destroy it. "What are we going to do about the Resistance?"

There was silence on the other end. Infinite strained to hear Eggman's next command.

"I need time to come up with a plan and then when the time comes the Resistance will be no more and this world will have no choice, but to submit to our rule."

Infinite grinned underneath the mask slowly beginning to levitate off the ground. The surge of power that came from the Phantom Ruby allowed him to hover there. He'd never felt this powerful before. Everything looked smaller to the jackal whenever he levitated in the air.

"In three days time, we'll meet at Green Hill Zone. We'll discuss the plan to get rid of the Resistance then."

Infinite nodded, cutting off communication taking off into the air heading in the direction of Mystic Jungle. The vast jungle was a place that he would always hold mixed feelings. It was where his squad perished. On the other hand, it was where he gained the power of the Phantom Ruby, and he'd been reborn as someone new with all the power at his fingertips.

The thought that the Resistance would be soon erased from Mobius, and to think that he was so close to his dream of turning Mobius into a desert wasteland made him smile.

"Yes, soon a new world will be reborn," Infinite chuckled evilly. "This world will soon be mine."

* * *

 _Author's note. There we go that's finished. Well, I did like writing out this long chapter which was over 5000 words. This chapter was a lot of fun to write. I will say if there's one thing that Forces did right it was how Amy's character development was handled. While I did slip in a small SonAmy moment and I do plan to sprinkle a few more SonAmy moments throughout the fic._

 _Also here's a little guide as to who has the Chaos Emeralds. Eggman has two, and the Resistance has two Chaos Emeralds as well. I do have a plan for the Chaos Emeralds since I found it odd that in a scenario that Eggman has taken over the world and yet there's no mention of the Chaos Emeralds at all in the game._

 _I will say this. I was disappointed with how the game handled Sonic and Tails' reunion since its Tails, and Classic Sonic meets the Avatar and a scene jump later Tails is flying into Sonic's arms, and I knew had to do their reunion justice, and I hope that people like it._

 _As per usual thoughts/suggestions and reviews are welcomed, and I will be hopefully back soon with the next chapter._


	14. A hero's return

_Author's note Hello guys and girls I'm back once more with another chapter for the Illusionary Resistance. Again I'm sorry for the long hiatus and the wait. Also a big thank you to all of the beautiful people who have left a favorite and followed this story._

 _As always I have to give a big thank you to SpiderDom321, ThegameNguyener, AlexrandriaPrime, KeybladeWriter of the Dawn, YamiChaos27, bajy, Guest, and Sharp DragonKlaw for the reviews. I want to thank all of you for the support._

With that out of the way without any further delays here is chapter fourteen.

* * *

The space shuttle traveled at a steady speed through space. The mood inside the shuttle itself was jubilant. The Resistance had succeeded in rescuing Sonic. A pink cat medic had immediately started cleaning out Sonic's injuries her eyes wandering over the deep wounds marveling that it was a miracle that some of them hadn't become infected.

Somehow there as a shower on board the space shuttle as the prisoners had taken turns. Sonic had taken a long shower washing off the dirt in his fur. Tails lay on a small makeshift bed with his wounds having been cleaned out and stitched up. A blood bag was attached to Tails' wrist. One of the prisoners had willingly donated blood to the fox who was still a bit weak from a loss of blood due to Zavok's attack. Fresh, clean bandages had were wrapped around his abdomen. Sonic stayed by his side all throughout the process.

"Oh, man Tails I'm so sorry that this happened to you," Sonic said. "Don't worry I know that you'll be back to inventing things soon."

"Yeah, I will. It was stupid of me to fight Zavok wasn't it?"

The kit's question caught Sonic by surprise. He reached out for Tail's hand giving it a gentle squeeze.

"No, it wasn't. Tails if you didn't step in when you did I would have been a roasted hedgehog on a stick."

"I know, and you're my best friend," Tails whispered tiredly. I'm sorry that I was unable to do a thing to stop Eggman from taking you."

"It's in the past," Sonic reassured Tails. "You guys saved me, and we have to find a way to defeat Eggman and win our home back."

Tails smiled tiredly before his eyes closed slipping into a light slumber. Sonic gave his adoptive brother a light pat on the shoulder tucking him into the bed.

For the first time in months, Sonic enjoyed a good meal of a single chilidog. The hedgehog would cast an anxious look over at the small bed where Tails lay in it. Sonic sat up facing the monitor waiting for Knuckles to come through. Shadow and Rouge were off to the side having a conversation with each other as the loud static crackled through as Knuckles' face finally appeared on the monitor.

There was happiness that Sonic had been found alive, but it was mixed with shock and despair seeing the state that Sonic was in before he composed himself.

"Sonic," Knuckles said his voice cracking with emotion. "Finding you alive is the hope we need right now. What the hell did that fat bastard do to you?"

"Many things I don't want to go over Knucklehead," Sonic replied his quills wearily drooping ever so slightly."Is everyone else alive and safe?"

"They are," Came the guardians' response. "You know both Tails and Amy never gave up hope that you were still alive."

Sonic weakly smiled. His friends were safe. The tense knot of fear and dread which formed in his stomach over the last six months finally began to fade away upon hearing the news that his friends were safe. Sonic sighed the next question lingering in his mind, and that was the state that of Mobius. The hedgehog recalled with a shudder the footage Eggman'd shown him of his forces wreaking havoc on the planet not too long after his capture.

"So just how much of Mobius did Eggy take over?"

"Sonic what I'm about to say next is to prepare you," Knuckles breathed in deeply before continuing with his sentence."Things are pretty bad down here. Eggman's army's pretty much conquered almost all of Mobius. GUN lost half of its forces in the first three months of Eggman's takeover."

"We can't just throw in the towel!" Sonic snapped. He shakily stood up ignoring the medic's protest for him to stay down. "If we surrender then, Eggman's truly won, and we will find a way to reclaim our home back."

"You're right," Knuckles replied calmly. "I do have a plan that we can execute once you've had time to recover. We can't wait to have you back. This news is going to give hope back to the people that need it the most right now."

"Yeah, I'll see you soon Knux. I could go for a nap right now," Sonic stifled the yawn. Knuckles saw the bags that were beginning to form under his eyes from a lack of sleep. With the bandages covering parts of Sonic's body, there was a haunted expression in Sonic's eyes indicating that he'd gone through unspeakable horrors. The ribs that were showing through the hedgehog's too thin chest and he just wanted to take a long nap after being tortured for who knew how long.

"Sonic the Hedgehog," Gadget said. "It's such an honor to meet you."

"Oh hey, you're that wolf," Sonic said wearily. "I didn't get a chance to ask your name back on the Death Egg."

"It's Gadget. I'm just glad that you're okay," Gadget looked over at the sleeping kit. "I used to have a best friend called Zerinn." The wolf sighed sadly."We stopped being friends a few years ago and, I just recently learned he died."

Sonic saw the small tears leaking out from the corner of Gadget's eyes. Sonic gently reached forward placing a gentle hand on the wolf's shoulder in sympathy.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Sonic said quietly. "Even if the two of you weren't friends, I'm sure he would want you to keep going and live your life no matter what happens in the future."

"Gadget!"

At that moment as Gadget looked around, he saw a flash of deep grey fur through the small crowd of prisoners, and his heart stopped. Sucking in a breath Gadget heard a familiar voice muttering excuse me before he came to a stop his turquoise eyes filled with shock at the sight of the red wolf.

"Mikhail?"

All it took was one word for the two half-brothers to come running towards each other on the space shuttle both of them embraced warmly. Their tails were wagging in happiness. Gadget couldn't help it the tears slipped down his face hugging his only surviving family member close to him. Mikhail was alive. He wasn't dead after all. Gadget rested his head on his family member's chest listening to his heartbeat.

"How did you survive? I saw Eggman's robots grab you. I thought that you were dead for the last three months." Gadget sobbed softly.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner. I joined up with the Resistance in secret, and I volunteered to spy on Eggman. My Codename was Balti." Mikhail explained. The two brothers broke apart with smiles on their muzzles at the relief that they were okay and the important thing was that they were together again. Sonic, Tails, and Rouge looked on the scene with smiles.

Shadow heard a low cough. He turned on his heel to face Kaito. The young jackal's tail swished back and forth in irritation. The silence between them was tense. The jackal clasped the handle of his flamberge.

"Tell me. How did my brother die by your hand?"

"The rest of your squad just simply couldn't stand up to my strength," Shadow stated calmly. The jackal made eye contact with him ."I have a terrible memory, but I know that you were there."

"You killed my half-brother along with the rest of our squad," Kaito growled."Half of our family is dead because of you."

Shadow silently glared at the jackal. He heard the pain and sorrow in his voice. Gadget broke away from Mikhail walking over to him with his eyes narrowed his lips slightly curling back from his mouth exposing his fangs. his fingers reaching down for a small photograph showing it to Shadow. The Ultimate Lifeform carefully took the photo looking over at the young jackal and red wolf that were grinning at the camera.

It was unmistakably Infinite grinning up at him with his arm slung around a red wolf who was also grinning. The two of them looked so carefree and innocent without a care in the world.

That's Infinite when he was a kid. It's hard to imagine him as a monster. Shadow thought to maintain a blank expression on his face.

"If what you say is true, then when this war is over I will respectfully build a monument to them," Shadow said calmly returning the photograph to Gadget. "And if there are members of your squad that are still alive somewhere in the world I promise to find them."

Kaito clenched the handle of flamberge his knuckles turning white underneath the gloves. He was uncertain. This monster was willing to help him after he'd brutally killed several members of his squad that were like family.

"I'm not sure that we can trust, you, but thank you Shadow." Gadget spoke for the jackal who turned on his heel the wolf, and the jackal walked away keeping their heads close together murmuring to themselves about a conversation that Shadow couldn't hear.

Shadow in his mind that had a feeling that Infinite was Zerinn. There was a possibility if the deranged jackal was the friend and family member that Gadget and Kaito were looking for, the chances were that the reunion between them wouldn't be a happy one.

The rest of the journey was uneventful as Sonic and Tails slumbered for the rest of the space shuttle's travel path. The only time that Sonic was startled awake was when the Space shuttle landed just outside of Spaceport where the tired hedgehog was led over to a small vehicle with several GUN vehicle parked not too far away from it. The few remaining GUN troops were stunned at the sight of Sonic's condition.

"So then you'll have to see just how bad it is Sonic," Rouge said. "After your defeat, this spaceport was one of the very first things that he took over."

The rest of the Resistance entered the large GUN jeep with Sonic casting a wary look around the vehicle shuddering. He didn't exactly have fond memories of the last time he was in a GUN vehicle due to being mistaken for Shadow. He looked out at the landscape before him with Tails sitting next to him. The once green fields of Mobius were mostly now stripped away of vegetation and life.

The skies itself was a dark grey matching the planet's mood of despair and hopelessness.

The low peals of thunder could be echoed off in the distance. The jeep sped through the vast, bleak landscape. Sonic looked out of the window his breath hitched in his throat at the sight of a cloud of thick black smoke rising from a small town that was still ablaze with shadows of giant mechs stomping about the burning city. Coupled with the distant far away screams of the citizens who weren't fortunate enough to escape. Sonic gritted his teeth getting up racing to the front of the vehicle one of his fingers wrapping around the gear shift pulling it into the brake position causing the jeep to jolt to a stop jostling everyone inside of it.

"Stop the vehicle! We need to help those civilians!"

"I can't Sonic. We were under orders to take you straight back to the Resistance base in Sunset Heights."

Sonic ran towards one of the doors of the jeep leaping out of the vehicle breaking into a supersonic run. Despite his malnourished condition the fire that raged on the inside of Sonic forced himself into a full out run his teeth gritted in pure anger. He was aware of a black and red blue racing right behind him. A few moments later a heavyweight tackled into his midsection knocking Sonic off his feet.

The force of the impact of Sonic colliding with the ground at the speed he was traveling hurt like crazy. He felt the skin tear open along one of his wounds. He opened his eyes to see Shadow glaring down at him lying across his midsection his face emotionless handling the fiercely struggling hedgehog underneath him trying to get up.

"Damn it Shadow! Let go of me! There's still time for us to save that town!"

"Don't be an idiot Sonic." Shadow snarled not moving from his position of holding Sonic's arms at his side ignoring the hedgehog's desperate struggles to get back up to his feet. Sonic gritted his teeth still yanking his arms free attempting to pull himself along the ground feeling the weight of the Ultimate Lifeform pinning him down with the exhaustion catching up to him.

Shadow reached down with one hand yanking hard on Sonic's blue quills. Sonic winced feeling the Ultimate Lifeform glaring down at him. Shadow wanted to shake his head at Sonic's recklessness. Even after going through six months of torture it would be just like Sonic to risk his life to protect people.

"Tails risked his life for you," Shadow said with a quiet menace. "No this plan to save you involved members of the Resistance risking their lives for you and you're just going to throw it all away so that the Doctor can kill you for real?"

At Shadow's words, Sonic felt a stab of shame enter his heart, and he let out a sigh. He was just too tired to struggle any more. He closed his eyes letting out a small sigh of pain his head rested against the dusty ground his sides rose and fell dimly aware of the fatigue catching up to him. He lifted up his head taking in the sight of the burning town the screams of dying citizens that would haunt him forever to his grave.

"You're right Shad," Sonic let out a low sigh. "I can't do that to Tails and everyone."

"We'll find a way to stop Eggman, but you need time to rest and recover."

Shadow stood up on his feet pulling Sonic up along with him. The two hedgehogs watched the blazing town aware that they were unable to do anything at all to prevent the town's destruction. The GUN soldiers pulled up in a car allowing Sonic and Shadow to climb into it. The vehicle sped back to the waiting jeep. Sonic turned his head towards the burning town the thick black clouds of smoke rising off into the sky.

One day we're going to make Eggman regret that he's ruined this many lives along with Infinite. We are going to win this war no matter what. Sonic silently vowed to himself clenching his trembling fist ever so slightly.

The long ride back to Sunset Heights was in a tense silence. No one said anything else until the vehicle arrived in Sunset Heights. Sonic looked up hearing Tails stir ever so slightly tap Sonic lightly on the shoulder causing Sonic to look out the window to be greeted by the sight of Knuckles, Amy, Omega, the Chaotix, Chaser, Sahara and Silver standing in front of the Resistance base.

"Welcome back Sonic!" Amy broke into a run. Before anyone could react, she'd drawn Sonic into a tight embrace causing him to wince in pain. "You're alive, and I knew that you would still be."

Sonic winced. "Agh Amy, that's great can you please let go?"

For once Amy complied as Sonic was swept up by the many members of the Resistance who were marveling his return. Some of them reached out to touch his fur wondering if he was indeed back. The small bursts of hope erupted within the hearts of the Resistance with Sonic's arrival. Gadget gently carried Tails falling into step behind Sahara and her medical team as Tails' injuries needed to tended along with most of the prisoners that had been on board the Death Egg.

"Ah yeah Sonic's back! You missed it; I stung Infinite in the butt for you! Also, it was satisfying too!" Charmy exclaimed.

"Oh man, I would've loved to have seen that," Sonic chuckled. "How loudly did he yelp?"

"It was loud," Vector said with a toothy grin a gleeful expression on his face. "Charmy must've stung him extra hard for you," Vector said. "That masked prick had it coming."

The rest of the Resistance parted to let Sonic through to the infirmary as a flash of white fur caught Sonic's' eye. He looked up to see a white hedgehog making his way through the crowd. The hedgehog was different from any other hedgehog that Sonic had ever seen before. A pair of large white quills hung down from the back of his head, and he came running over to Sonic a small smile was on his face.

"You're alive. I'm Silver the Hedgehog. The famous Sonic the Hedgehog," Silver breathed out. "I come from two hundred years in the future, and I came back because an ancient document in my time foretold of a great disaster that would befall your time."

"Huh, so I guess that I'm that famous already and it's nice to meet you, Silver," Sonic said reaching out to shake Silver's hand.

It was the same white hedgehog whom he'd seen lying bleeding in his visions on the broken ground of the induced hallucinations brought on by that mysterious gem. However, there were no wounds on the ivory fur, and his yellow eyes were shining with hope upon seeing Sonic.

"There is, and we can discuss it inside." The crowd parted allowing Knuckles to step out from the group. Sonic noticed that there was something different about the guardian about the Master Emerald. He seemed more confident of himself, in a position as the leader of the Resistance.

"I never thought that I would see you in the leadership Role Knux."

"Knuckles simply let out a low sigh. "Believe me if it weren't for this whole mess I'd rather be back on Angel Island doing my duty." Knuckles turned to look at Sonic with concern.

"We've got a makeshift bed for you," Knuckles began to lead the way into the Resistance base with Sonic in tow."You need time to rest, and then we can begin to take back Mobius for real."

Sonic simply nodded yawning ever so slightly betraying just how tired he was. A pair of Resistance soldiers helped him walk into the Resistance Base, followed by the large group of Mobians followed Knuckles inside the base feeling even more hopeful than they ever had since the war had started.

Meanwhile not too far away from the base several golden flowers began to peek out from the soil underneath a tree that wasn't too far from the Resistance base. The blooming of these flowers was evident. With Sonic finally back amongst the Resistance hope had finally returned to Mobius.

* * *

 _Author's note Well there you have it. Sonic is back amongst his friends and the real fight to reclaim Mobius can finally begin. If you go to my profile page, I will have set up a poll asking who do you want to see as the penultimate obstacle that stands in the way of the Resistance reclaiming all of Mobius from the Eggman Empire's grasp._

 _In this chapter, the final OC for this story is revealed at last after the long wait since his debut in the picture frame chapter 9. Mikhail is Gadget's older half-brother by two years, and he is just as loyal and kind. Balti was the codename given to him when he first joined the resistance, and he is going to have a role to play along with Chaser and Sahara._

 _The events Wolf and the Jackal do tie into this story since Gadget used to be friends with Infinite. It's one of the things that does diverge slightly from canon, and I won't spoil it, but these two are going to meet later on in the plot._

 _The most significant challenge I had with this chapter was Sonic himself. Since Sonic's personality keeps changing every game, it's hard to write Sonic and how he would cope with a severe situation like this. I do hope that it came across as in character as I made him for this type of thing._

 _Also, another gripe I had with the game was the subject of Sonic's "torture," and it bugged me that he was perfectly fine. In this story, I wanted to show the effects of his torture and his guilt for being unable to stop Eggman from taking over. We're going to see a bit of the impulsive side of Sonic in this story mostly due to his desire to get back at Eggman._

 _This chapter as you've probably noticed is a bit less intense and action-packed. It's a calm after the storm chapter. I wanted the focus to be on Sonic's arrival on Mobius and seeing how much damage Eggman's inflicted on the planet and the reunion with his friends. Gadget and Sonic finally meet for the first time and writing out their interactions were fun to write out._

 _That's all for now and as per usual thoughts/ suggestions and reviews are appreciated, and welcomed and I hope that you guys have a wonderful weekend and I will be back with the next chapter soon._


	15. Into each other we put our trust

_Author's note. Hello, folks, I'm back at last. I apologize for the delay due to me as I've mentioned in my profile having to take my laptop in for repairs. It was a long wait since sadly there were some hard drive issues with my old laptop which resulted in me having to replace it. All of my data from the old hard drive had to be transferred to my new laptop. Thank you all for being so patient with this delay._

 _I want to say thank you to all of the people who've reviewed, faved and followed the story. Also a big thank you to PhantomHeartless5 for favoriting this story._

 _Also thank you so much for over 5000 views._

 _Now then, as usual, it's time to give a big thank you to bajy, Black Twilight Wolf, TheGameNguyener, SpiderDom321, Alexandria Prime, ExtermeLight9, the mystery guest, Keyblade Writer of the Dawn, Miki-Chan13, and Bluie the Jackal for leaving a review in the previous chapter._

 _And now folks at long last here is chapter 15. All I can say about this chapter there are some deep moments in here._

* * *

To Sonic after spending six months cooped up in a small cell with the only decoration being blank gray metal walls and bright blue bars the brickwork and the muted reds and browns of the Resistance base were less of an eyesore in the hedgehog's opinion. He followed Knuckles into a small room branching off from the hallway. Amy, Vector, Silver, Shadow, Knuckles, and Rouge, filed into the room, sitting around at several seats at a small table.

Shadow saw Omega standing guard in the large room. All the tension left Shadow's chest. Seeing Omega fully functional again brought a small feeling of hope to the Ultimate Lifeform, at last Shadow could rest east upon seeing both Rouge and Omega could rest easy knowing both Rouge and Omega were out of danger.

"Omega, I let both you and Rouge down," Shadow murmured. "I never should have underestimated Infinite's power. I promise you the next time we meet, he will pay for what he did to you."

"Do not concern yourself with the past," Omega replied looking down at Shadow. "The highest probable chance of reclaiming Mobius is to focus on the present and defeating Infinite and Eggman."

"Sonic needs to rest Knuckles," Amy said. "Besides, he must be exhausted."

"No, I'm fine," Sonic muttered wearily. "We need to come up with a plan to win this war."

Vector shook his head, letting out a sigh of resignation. "It's near impossible to win this war. Eggman has ninety-nine percent of Mobius under his control, and the people have long since given into despair."

"Sonic's right," Silver muttered. "If we don't even attempt to fight this war, then Eggman's truly won, and we'll lose not just our home. In the future where I come from Mobius is nothing, but a dead wasteland."

Silver's words hung in the air. The tense silence filled the meeting room Sonic found his gaze drawn to several battle plans spread out all over the table. Knuckles wordlessly pulled forward the paper towards the center of the table with a crudely drawn image of the Arsenal Pyramid.

"This is Operation Pyramid Escape," Knuckles said proudly. "The plan is simple. Eggman's been using it to construct weapons of mass destruction. Sonic and Gadget will infiltrate the pyramid while Amy, Tails, Chaser and Sahara cause a distraction. All of you will be carrying explosives which will be used to destroy the Arsenal Pyramid and its factory."

Vector let out a low sigh of resignation. "Knuckles with no offense to the kid, but he was shaking a like a leaf on the way to the Spaceport, Are you sure sending him on this mission is going to be a good idea?"

"Gadget did hold his own against Metal Sonic, Vector," Sonic spoke up. "I know that he can do it.

"Yeah, he's a little timid," Knuckles admitted. "Sonic you do need to get some rest, and I want you healed first before we set out on this mission that we're going to carry out two weeks from now."

Sonic opened his mouth to protest feeling a gentle touch on his shoulder. Amy looked at him with a pleading expression in her light green eyes.

"I'll take him to the Infirmary," Amy spoke up gently. "Please Sonic; you look tired even to stand right now."

"Fine, maybe a little shut-eye won't hurt."

The two hedgehogs left the room with the other members of the Resistance fell into step behind them bringing the meeting to a close. The walk to the Infirmary mercifully was short, and several members of the Resistance stopped to gaze at Sonic taking in the sight of the hedgehog's banged wounds and gaunt face and his ribs showing through his skin. Sonic heard the soft mummers, and expressiomns of shock on their fellow Mobians' faces appallled by the condition Sonic was in.

"Eggman needs to be stopped," Amy said fiercely. "I don't even want to know how many lives that monster took on the Death Egg."

"You have no idea, Amy," Sonic said with a shudder. "You don't want the answer to what happened to the prisoners on the Death Egg that I couldn't save."

The tense silence hung in the air as Sonic was handed over to a pair of nurses who immediately guided him to one of the empty beds. Sonic carefully lay down on the bed shifting restlessly on the white sheets, pulling the thin blanket over his body. Sonic saw on Tails one bed over to his right. The fox was already fast asleep. His bandages changed once again. Sleep wasn't coming quickly to the hedgehog looking around the line of beds occupied by most of the prisoners slumbering peacefully.

Sonic closed his brain was urging him to get some rest. He stifled the yawn as his eyelids fluttered closed. He opened his eyes, tossing and turning on the makeshift bed hearing the springs creaking underneath the bed.

"Just get some rest Sonic." A soft voice whispered from nearby.

Sonic's head shot towards the faint whisper. Sahara stood at his bedside with an expression of concern on her face. She reached down towards the hedgehog's shoulder rubbing small circles on his back soothing him.

"Is Tails going to be okay?" Sonic asked, concerned for his best friend. "The cuts weren't too deep I hope."

"No, they weren't. Tails will heal, like how you need time to heal," Sahara said gently holding out her hand to shake. "I'm Sahara by the way."

"Well, you know who I am," Sonic replied tiredly. "Tails almost died because of me."

"He's safe now, which is important," Sahara softly murmured. "You're a beacon of hope for the Resistance now."

Sonic let out a low sigh knowing deep down Sahara was right. Sonic wrapped the thin cover around his body. He felt the maned wolf remove her fingers continuing on her rounds checking on her other patients. Sonic mentally counted sheep in his mind his heavy eyelids slowly closing, allowing the warm embrace of sleep was wrapping itself around the hedgehog.

* * *

Peals of thunder echoed across the red sky as Sonic opened his eyes staring out at the large town. His ears twitched picking up on the sound of roaring flames all around him. Sonic looked around him in confusion his eyes were wide with fear scanning the horizon.

Where am I? Maybe if I get a good look around, I could get some answers.

Sonic broke into a supersonic run, tearing across the cobblestones racing to the top of the building. He let out a gasp as his heart freezing in fear.

There were burning buildings everywhere. The giant Death Egg Sentinels roamed about destroying everything in their path. High up in the sky Sonic spied Infinite hovering. His arms folded across his chest. Several red cubes floated around the jackal. With a wave of his hand, the red cubes sent racing in every single direction inflicting terror on anyone caught in their range. Eggman laughed, sitting astride the Egg Dragoon.

"Bow down to me citizens of Mobius," Eggman announced glee in his voice. "Sonic is dead, and the world is mine!"

In the streets lay the bodies of many innocent Mobians. Sonic's instincts took over running to the closet citizen lying still on the ground which turned out to be a light grey chameleon.

"Hey, are you okay? We need to get going!" Sonic said, shaking the chameleon roughly. The chameleon opened his eyes weakly with a low moan escaping his lips. Sonic grabbed him, pulling him to his feet only to collapse with a cry. It was then Sonic noticed the steady drip of crimson blood gushing from the amputated leg. The hedgehog gasped in shock almost dropping the chameleon to the ground who shuddered before the last breath of life left his body.

"Hey, you can't give up!" Sonic cried out in panic resting a hand on the chameleon's skin silently urging him to get back up to his feet. The chameleon didn't respond his skin was cold and clammy to the touch. Sonic felt his heart sink; the chameleon was dead.

"He wasn't the only one who died when Eggman took over Mobius Sonic."

Sonic turned on his heel his mouth open in horror at the vast crowd of Mobians standing before him stretching before him. Most of them bore deep gashes some across their necks and a variety of injuries. He recalled when he was a prisoner on the Death Egg innocent Mobians would be dragged along the corridor by either Eggman or Zavok pleading for their lives only to be ejected into space their screams of fear fading away.

"Why didn't you stop him?" A voice called out from the crowd. The crowd parted to reveal an old male skunk with a deep cut in his throat."Because of your defeat, Eggman destroyed everything we've ever known!"

"You didn't save us! You're not a hero!"

The crowd consisting of all of those innocent lives lost in this war began to swarm Sonic. The hedgehog took several steps backward his hands held up the expression of terror on his face silently pleading with the crowd of Mobians swarming him.

"You could've saved us!" The cry went up from an old male bear glowering at Sonic. The look of contempt evident on his face with a pair of bear cubs peering out from behind his legs.

Sonic awoke with a sudden gasp. He placed his hand on his chest, trying to calm his racing heart and rapid breathing, Emerald eyes darted around the room. He slipped out of bed. He wanted to close his eyes and to let the gentle lull of slumber draw him in, but the fear of having another nightmare kept him awake. He looked up at the small clock on the wall read 1:30 AM.

"So I was out for a few hours. Maybe a walk wouldn't hurt."

Sonic quietly reasoned to himself slipping out of bed tiptoeing around, however, making sure not to wake anyone. Sonic stepped into the dark hallway the soft snores signaled most of the Resistance was asleep all except for a low whimpering coming from the Resistance's sleeping quarters. Sonic paused at the entranceway looking into the room. He made out the shape of Gadget tossing, in his sleep beads of sweat dotting his brow his teeth clenched. Sonic hesitated for a few long moments before silently hurrying to Gadget's side limping slightly.

The wolf was trapped in his nightmare muttering something under his breath. Sonic paused reaching out his fingertips brushing the fur feeling Gadget tense.

"If only I could help you Gadget," Sonic whispered not to disturb anyone else in the room. "You're not the only one who's been through hell."

Sonic sat on the edge of the bed hearing the springs creak in protest, his attention drawn to the wolf trapped in his nightmares. The hedgehog pressed a gentle hand to the wolf's back feeling him tense slightly.

* * *

Gadget tossed and turned in his sleep, his fingertips digging into the dirty sheets of his bed. The small sweat droplets dotted his brow, his teeth clenching in panic and fear. The wolf opened his eyes, hearing the roar of the flames was all around him. The red wolf looked around in horror his amber eyes darting about the burning ruins of Redgate City the wolf ran along the cobblestones the loud sirens blaring all around him the roar of flames adding to the din and there floating before him was Infinite.

"You're still giving in to that delicious fear child." Infinite cackled. "You ran before, and you couldn't even shoot at me."

Gadget's ears picked up on the sound of footsteps as he saw a flash of brown and white fur. Russell was leading the charge his Wispon raised letting out a war cry firing off several rounds at Infinite. Gadget saw several deep wounds leaking blood on the dog's brown and white coat.

He saw a flash of white the Wispon pressed into his hands. Gadget looked up to see Mikhail is running past him, his lips set in a scowl his eyes narrowed. Not too far behind him Kaito and Zerinn raced towards the scene as Zerinn grabbed something pressing the white Wispon at Gadget.

"Grab the fucking Wispon and fight back!"

Gadget turned his head, making eye contact with Aria the scowl forming on the irate bird's face. She too sported several deep wounds. It didn't stop the bird raising the Wispon charging at Infinite along with the rest of his friends using their Wispons on Infinite to no avail.

"The weak are always meant to be vanquished by the strong."

Gadget tried in vain to move his heavy limbs to no avail before seeing Infinite raise his hand a small red ball of energy building up in the palm of his hand hand, Gadget's eyes widened in horror, knowing full well what was coming next.

"Guys! No! He'll kill you!"

Infinite swung his hand in a full arc, the red laser slitting their throats, blood gushed from their wounds into the air. Gadget looked on in horror, seeing his friend's bodies crumple to the ground. Mikhail was the last to fall his sightless eyes staring up at the sky. The scarlet blood was pouring from his throat. Zerinn and Kaito crumpled to the ground.

"Mikhail no!" Gadget cried out in anguish, "Please don't die!"

"The old me died a long time ago," Infinite said coldly. "You're an insect about to be crushed underfoot."

Gadget looked up his terrified gaze meeting Infinite's. The jackal's response was to lift up his hand a bright red light building up in it. There was no mercy in the single eye behind the mask. Gadget stared at the blast of red light racing towards him knowing his death was imminent.

* * *

Gadget screamed in horror shooting upright, his eyes full of fear, A terrified expression on his face, he grabbed his glasses slamming them on the bridge of his muzzle his sides increased and shrank rapidly feeling a gentle touch rubbing circles on his back. There were a few annoyed grumbles as a couple of Resistance members briefly woke up before going back to sleep.

"Hey, take it easy Gadget I'm here," Sonic said softly. "Tell me what's wrong."

"I had a bad dream about Infinite," Gadget softly said his voice barely above a whisper. "Infinite attacked my hometown of Redgate City, and he killed my friends, I tried to stand up to him, but I couldn't."

Sonic saw the trembling wolf slowly standing up trembling all over. Sonic placed an arm around his shoulder gently guiding him out of the sleeping quarters. The duo made their way outside the stars were out. Gadget felt the warm, humid breeze in the air calming him slightly, his shoulders were trembling with emotion his fingers gripping the steel bars unashamedly weeping openly now.

"So let me guess you joined up with the Resistance to avenge your friends right?" Sonic questioned.

"I did," Gadget replied. "Sonic I can't stand up to Infinite. I'm scared we'll lose this war, and we're all going to die." I've got my half brother and a friend back, and I'm going to lose them again."

A few short moments hung between them at the end of Gadget's sentence. Sonic heard the wolf quietly sobbing rubbing his eyes ears flat against his head, gritting his teeth uttering underneath his breath he was a coward, afraid he couldn't save anyone, not when he was to scared too.

"I'm scared too."

Gadget paused looking over at Sonic in shock his mouth forming an o in surprise. Here was Sonic the Hedgehog admitting for the first time he was afraid.

"Gadget, I've been through hell for the last six months of my life. All Eggman wanted to do was to break my spirit," Sonic muttered his voice cracking with slight emotion. "I saw my friends die again and again. Then it almost happened for real when Zavok attacked Tails."

"I was scared. Tails nearly died, and I almost lost my best friend and little brother," Sonic breathed in calming himself. "I know it seems impossible, but we will find a way to reclaim Mobius. I promise."

Gadget nodded in agreement. Sonic turned on his heel stifling his yawn. The wolf looked glanced over at his shoulder his brows furrowing in deep concentration his fingers clutched the railing inhaling feeling the last of his anxiety fading away seeing Sonic gently tap him lightly on the shoulder smiling reassuringly at him.

"Thanks for hearing me out Sonic," Gadget said wiping away the last of his tears. "I think we both need to have a good night's sleep."

Sonic nodded tiredly. Sonic followed Gadget back into the Resistance headquarters hopefully to get some sleep free of nightmares at least. The guilt of seeing all the dead Mobians in his dream weighed heavily on Sonic's heart. Sonic shook his head knowing he would need to sleep.

* * *

Green Hill Zone Two weeks since Sonic's rescue.

The blazing hot sun shone down over the vast desert sands. Green Hill Zone once was a lush paradise filled with greenery all sorts of fauna once roamed the vast rolling hills forming loops, and the gentle breezes were cooling to any Mobians traveling through the green landscape.

However, due to Eggman's takeover, much of Green Hill was now covered in sand. Thick black smoke poured from the several small factories set up around the pyramid. It was there that a small group of Mobians raced across the desert sands determined to bring down one of Eggman's bases.

Gadget struggled to keep up with Sonic the hedgehog charged ahead with a look of pure determination on his face the weight of the brown backpacks resting across their backs containing the explosives. Sonic healed quickly over the two-week period along with Tails. The hedgehog had put on some weight. Most of his injuries healed leaving faint white scars. Sonic and Gadget effortlessly destroyed the wave of robots the two of them plowed through the few defenses remaining at the Arsenal Pyramid. Gadget swung his lighting Wispon in a full arc the electrical whip destroying the robots clearing a way for both him and Sonic to make their way to the Arsenal Pyramid.

"All right Sonic Tails, Amy, Chaser, and Sahara are causing a distraction," Knuckles' voice crackled over the communicator. "I can send them for back up if you need it."

"There's no need! Gadget and I can handle it!" Sonic replied confidently. "Right partner?"

"We can Sonic." Gadget replied.

Sonic jumped over the barriers coming to a sharp turn skidding along with Gadget activating his grappling hook the two of them making a sharp turn along the metallic pathway coming to a stop.

In front of Sonic and Gadget, a large group of Egg Pawns was running towards Sonic and Gadget. Sonic smirked upon seeing the robots coming towards them. Gadget wondered how they were going to clear a path for the rest of the Resistance to make their way to the Pyramid.

"Hey, Gadget I've got an idea, but hold on tight."

Sonic reached back for Gadget gripping his wrist tightly, and the world around him accelerated at high speeds the force of Sonic's speed pinned his ears back to his head the G-forces were almost too much for him to take. It was a mystery as to how Sonic was able to run at this speed all the time without feeling nauseous.

 _Make it stop Please Chaos Make it stop!_ Gadget's panicked thoughts raced through his mind.

"Sonic slow down!"

Through the howling wind, robots were destroyed, all around the wolf as the ground underneath their feet suddenly shifted upwards as it took a few moments for Gadget's brain to the process they were running up the side of the pyramid.

"Yeah, that's how you do it!" Sonic's jubilant voice sounded far away over the roar of the wind. "We've got unstoppable speed!" You're doing great Gadget!"

Thankfully the supersonic run came to a stop. Sonic suddenly jumped in through the massive entrance at the top of the pyramid. Several red laser grids activated, creating several red barriers as Sonic and Gadget ducked through the air. Gadget panted heavily. His heart felt ready to explode from the effects of the unwanted high-speed run.

"Sonic! What were you thinking taking Gadget along with you on that run?" Amy scolded Sonic through the communicator. "No one can run as fast as you except for Shadow or Metal Sonic!"

"Gadget did fine," Sonic replied. "How are things on your end?"

"The distraction worked," Amy replied happily. "Tails is busy setting up the explosives in the second factory; we're leaving the factory. Once you and Gadget are out of the pyramid and out of the blast range, then we'll set them off."

"Okay, thanks for letting us know Amy," Gadget replied, still feeling a bit nauseous. "We won't let you down."

Sonic and Gadget came to a stop at the bottom of the floor, making their way through the vast interior of the Arsenal Pyramid. It was huge. The giant gears were working like clockwork. Sonic and Gadget continued making their way through the Arsenal Pyramid taking out the small groups of robots along the way.

Gadget activated his grappling hook slamming into robots. Sonic did the same destroying robots effortlessly the two of them continued on their trek through the vast interior of the base. They jumped down another passageway arriving at the massive room where massive atomic bombs resting on conveyor belts were heading to the loading bay for Eggman's ships.

Sonic whistled in pure disbelief at the sight of the weapons. If Eggman was building weapons this large, it meant that the mad scientist was preparing for another attack. Sonic shuddered at the image of several Eggman's ships ascending into the skies with its dangerous cargo dropping the bombs onto a town or village, killing even more Mobians to add to the massive death tally.

"With that much firepower Eggman could easily wipe out a chunk of Mobius," Sonic said in horror. "We're placing the explosives and then let's get out of here."

Sonic slipped the backpack off opening it up removing the explosives from it with Gadget following Sonic's lead setting it carefully on the metal walkway the fine mesh underneath their feet clanking the two of them broke into a run heading towards the exit.

To their luck, a small passageway led out of the back of Arsenal Pyramid the warmth of the sand was a welcome sight to Gadget the sun beating down on his fur following Sonic to Tails' team location.

"We all need to get back!" Chaser's voice boomed out."Unless you want to get blown sky high along with that pyramid!"

The six Mobians ran several meters away from the pyramid. Tails held onto a small remote a single red button in the middle of it making sure everyone was a safe distance away from the weapons factory.

"If my calculations are correct and they should be," Tails said. "The destruction of the pyramid will cripple Eggman's army for months."

The fox pressed the switch. For a few moments, there was a tense silence. Then, with several loud roars, a series of explosions tore through the metal hull of the Arsenal Pyramid, followed by the smaller factory. The flames tore along the surface of the pyramid clouds of black smoke spilled out of the holes made.

"We did it!" Amy cheered out the small group broke into cheers. They'd done it. With the Arsenal, Pyramid destroyed it meant that Eggman no longer had a base to mass produce weapons.

"You did good Tails." Sonic smiled, drawing the small fox into a hug giving him a fist bump.

"Yeah, well, it's so good to have you back Sonic." Tails replied happily.

Amy joined in Sonic and Tails' embrace as Sonic hugged two of his friends close to him in relief they were safe and no harm had come to them.

Gadget bent over placing his hands on his knees, panting heavily his breath coming out in short gasps. His heart pounded in his chest, and he wanted to lie down and have a long sleep.

"Hey, we make quite the team!" Sonic said. "I meant it when I said you were doing great."

Gadget looked up to see Sonic offering him the fist bump. The wolf smiled silently returning the fist bump. It was a sign of acceptance and a small bubble of happiness built up in his chest.

"Yeah, I thought that you would pass out on the way up, but you didn't." Chaser said smiling. "You're one tough kid Gadget."

Gadget let out a sigh of relief hearing praise coming from the Resistance members with Tails giving a small nod and Amy patting him on the shoulder. The small group made their way back to their base in Sunset Heights with a content wolf among them.

* * *

 _Author's note Well then after all this time the Resistance finally takes out the first of Eggman's bases of operations, shifting the tide of war in their favor._

 _I do hope that people enjoyed this chapter after the long wait._

 _It's also been a while since we've had a chapter focusing on Gadget. Another thing I liked from Forces was the relationship that Sonic had with the Avatar helping him conquer his fear of Infinite and in general being supportive towards him and I wanted to expand on their bond. There's going to be nothing romantic between Sonic and Gadget since it's going to be platonic._

 _Writing out Sonic and Gadget's nightmare sequences was one of my favorite parts to write. Sonic was deeply affected by not only his torture but the fact that Eggman won and he was enslaving Mobius and the guilt he felt by not being able to do a thing is weighing heavily on him. Seeing the massive number of Mobians who've died in Eggman's take over doesn't help at all._ Gadget _is affected by the deaths of his friends and the fact he couldn't do a thing to save them._

 _I know that we haven't seen much of Infinite. He will be back soon enough. The next few chapters all I can say about them is that the stakes are going to be raised with the Eggman Empire making their move soon._

 _Well, that's all for now. As per usual, Thoughts/suggestions and reviews are appreciated and welcomed as always, and I will be back hopefully soon with the next chapter._


	16. Clash in the Jungle

_Author's note._

 _I never expected this to happen. This story has already over 100 reviews. I thank all of the people who have taken the time to review this story, and the support this story has already received has been incredible. Also a big thank you to those who've faved and followed this fic._

 _I have to give a big thank you for I hate Snatch Steal for faving this story. I appreciate it and thank you so much for the support._

 _As per usual a thank to TGN, SD321, bajy, AlexrandriaPrime, Guest, Pyrien, YamiChaos 27, SharpDragonKlaw, and Keyblade Writer of the Dawn. For their reviews as it is the motivation that keeps me going and I appreciate your support._

 _Well, ladies and gentlemen with no more delays here is chapter 16 at last._

* * *

Mystic Jungle was the biggest jungle in all of Mobius. Situated between Metropolis and Redgate City. The sprawling wilderness was home to many unique species of fauna. There were constant rain showers, and there were rumors of giant snakes said to haunt the area. These monstrous serpents were supposed to have ebony scales and small orange patches on their bodies. Many Mobians ventured into the jungle hoping to map it out, only to never return.

There were whispers of giant natural waterslides somewhere in the jungle where the currents were fierce sweeping anyone off their feet turning an innocent fun trip down a waterslide into a deadly plummet which no Mobians willingly would go on them.

The dangers of the jungle were the reason Eggman chose to build one of his labs in one of the most dangerous parts of Mobius. The moon was a bright beacon illuminating the dark foliage. No one was aware of the small band of Mobians running through the dense foliage with Silver leading the way remaining ever vigilant for any signs of danger.

The warm, humid air was noticeable. Silver hovered above the small group of resistance soldiers scanning the horizon for any signs of Eggman's forces. The only sound Silver heard were the chirping of crickets somewhere in the underbrush.

"Is there any sign of Eggman's forces yet Silver?" Amy's voice came through the static the communicator resting in the plan, on Silver's hand.

"Not yet," Amber eyes scanned the horizon. "All seems to be clear for now."

"That's odd. Tails did say that there was a signal coming from a lab where Eggman created the Phantom Ruby prototypes," Amy added in. "Maybe there were experiments conducted there."

A strange noise broke the silence. The noise sounded far away and muffled. If you took whatever was obscuring the source of the sound, it was a howl of pain and anguish. Silver looked down spying the Resistance members looking terrified at the sound.

"What was that?" Silver wondered aloud. "Sounds like someone's in trouble."

The distant hum of ship engines alerted the small group. Eggman's fleet was cruising over the jungle. The telekinetic hedgehog's eyes widened in fear at the sight of the fleet of Eggman's ships in the distance. The hatches at the bottom of the vessels opened, dropping its volatile cargo. The bombs exploded against the jungle foliage setting the jungle foliage alight.

The Resistance members stared in horror at the sight of the flames rapidly spreading across the jungle. Silver was thankful the Resistance wasn't too close to the blaze. The telekinetic hedgehog openly watched in horror the crimson and yellow flames quickly consumed the foliage, along with the black clouds of smoke racing along the cloudy skies nearly obscuring the moon.

Silver stared at all the destruction in the distance. Something inside the telekinetic hedgehog was ready to snap. Eggman's evil appeared to know no bounds; it was like the future where many fires like this broke out consuming everything in their path leaving behind a wake of devastation and despair. Silver failed to hear Amy's voice, staring shell-shocked into the roaring flames.

"Silver what's happening out there?"

"Amy! We need back up now!" Silver called out struggling to keep his voice calm. "Eggman's forces just set part of the jungle on fire, and I think someone needs help."

At her position in the Resistance Headquarters Amy heard the crackling of flames along with the strange loud noise causing her to yelp ripping the headset off rubbing at her ear with the other hand waiting for the sound to fade away.

"Sonic, Kaito, Tails, and Gadget are already making their way through Aqua Road," Amy informed a panicked expression slowly settling on her face with concern for her fellow Resistance members "I'll contact them and let them know about the situation."

Amy didn't have to look around to see the looks of horror from the other members of the Resistance monitoring the communications feed. The sound of flames in the background was proof that Eggman's evil was continuing to reach out to more parts of Mobius.

"Just, make sure that no one else is in danger," Amy stated struggling to keep her voice calm. "If there are other Mobians trapped out there, make sure that they're taken to a safe place first."

The psychic nodded heeding Amy's words. A low rumble sounded not too far away from where the group of Mobians was standing. Soon enough the source of the noise turned out to be a large group of Motobugs, Egg Pawns, and alien purple ostrich robots racing towards the members of the Resistance. It was apparent to Silver that these Badniks were here to capture the members of the Resistance.

"Silver go!" A magenta wolf called out her expression fierce. "We'll be fine. Go and see who it is that needs help."

The telekinetic hedgehog turned to see the wolf firing off several rounds from her Hover Wispon. The rest of the Resistance joined in the assault, pushing the robots back. Silver took off mentally hating himself for leaving his comrades to face Eggman's forces alone.

"Please let there be no more deaths," Silver said to himself. "I would never forgive myself if anyone else died in this war."

* * *

Infinite clutched the last of the Phantom Ruby prototypes in his fingers almost crushing the Prototype. Infinite had been the source of the unearthly howl Silver heard. The cause for Infinite's unwanted anguish was in front of him. The jackal stood in front of nine graves. Infinite recalled soon after his operation Eggman informed him that his robots located the bodies of his squadmates and had given them a burial.

The jackal stared in horror at the nine empty graves a snarl forming on his muzzle. Behind the mask, the single pupil dilated in fear and anger, his breath coming out in short gasps his rage beginning to build. When he discovered who would dare to defile the graves of his former squadmates, they would suffer a slow painful death.

"How could this happen?"

Infinite began to tremble staring down at his shaking hands. The last time his hands shook like this was after the defeat; he'd suffered at Shadow's hands. The monster took several steps backward, his mind reeling from what he saw. He'd never imagined ever since he'd become all-powerful the jackal would experience a sense of weakness.

"No, I'm not weak! They were the weak ones," Infinite screamed in pure anguish to no one sinking to his knees. "Shut up! I'm not weak! I'm not weak!"

Infinite made a wet strangling sound of rage, grabbing the Phantom Ruby Prototype. Infinite didn't have long to reflect on whoever had defiled his squadmate's final resting place a blast of cyan energy forced the jackal to step aside. Infinite turned coming face to face with Silver. The telekinetic hedgehog's response was to swing out his arms the telltale light blue glow attempting to ensnare Infinite. The jackal ducked at the last second, hovering into the air firing off a blast of red energy.

"Well, look at this," Infinite sneered. Underneath the mask, there was an expression of pure glee. "I remember you. I'm surprised to see that you survived my last attack, but this time I'll make sure to kill you and crush the Resistance's fighting spirit."

"Are you the only ones whose so arrogant to believe your lies?" A horrified expression crept on Silver's face cautiously gauging Infinite's reaction. The jackal paused for a few quiet moments before he laughed. The sound was cold and unnatural to Silver's ears.

Silver shot up into the air. Infinite followed him with a pair of small red balls of energy forming in the palm of his hands. The jackal threw them at the telekinetic hedgehog dodged them effortlessly. Silver focused his energy on a pair of small trees where the cyan glow appeared around them throwing the foliage at Infinite ascending his eye narrowed in amusement watching the trees slam harmlessly to the ground.

Silver saw the strange gem falling from Infinite's hand. The hedgehog quickly activated his power surrounding the jewel, and with a quick flick of his wrist, he sent it flying far away into the distance. Much to Silver's surprise Infinite didn't even react with the strange gem taken away from him.

"You're putting up more of a fight than I thought you would," Infinite said with amusement. "You have a fighting spirit. Let's see how long it lasts before I crush it."

Infinite and Silver darted at each other, exchanging blows. In the air a trail of red and blue lights in the sky and the struggle. Silver lashed out the jackal's white dreadlocks. Silver pulled hard on Infinite's dreadlocks hearing the muffled yelp of pain.

"Silver! What's going on? Amy's panicked voice crackled through the static of the communicator. "It's Infinite isn't it?"

"Yes, Amy, it's Infinite," Silver kept his voice even, maintaining a calm expression on his face. "I'll see how long I can hold him off."

Amy fought to keep her composure. She didn't have to look around at her comrades to see the expressions of fear and horror on their faces at the mention one of their members fighting for his life against Eggman's monster.

The last thing Silver heard was the electronic ringing, followed by the wave of red energy racing towards him. The telekinetic hedgehog closed his eyes, bracing for the worst outcome.

* * *

Silver slowly opened his eyes taking in the sound of flames. Silver ran along the ground among the ruins of Sunset City. The city was on fire and Silver broke into a panicked run heading towards the Resistance base and when he arrived at the Bunker. A cry of anguish tore itself from his lips.

The Resistance bunker was in flames. Robots were swarming the place with Eggman at the head in his Egg Mobile the diabolical, sinister smile on his face looking down at his enemies running in fear. Silver tried in vain to force his heavy limbs to move to do something to help the members of the Resistance. Several horrifying minutes passed before Silver broke into a run seeing a flash of deep cobalt. Sonic and Tails lay on the burning wreckage, not too far away from the burning bunker.

"Why?"

Silver turned his head to see Sonic lying sprawled on his stomach. "Why couldn't you warn us this would happen?" There was an accusing expression on the hedgehog's face. Sonic let his head sink down towards the ground the last traces of life, leaving his body, the life fading away from those emerald eyes. Next, to him, Tails lay dead several bleeding lacerations sliced across the fox's abdomen.

"No, there still has to be someone left alive," Silver assured himself." I have to stop the great calamity."

Silver looked up with a horror-stricken expression on his face. All of the bodies of his allies lay dead across the bleak wasteland. The sky was a blood red. Destroyed buildings were everywhere. No traces of life were there at all, and Silver saw a flash of white fur.

No, it couldn't be.

Silver gaped in horror spying a pair of white hedgehogs sitting huddled together. Surrounding them where the silver egg pawns were pointing their blasters at them. Silver froze seeing the female burying her head in her husband's chest the light sob leaving her. Silver saw the male who greatly resembled him staring the robots down in defiance.

"Mom! Dad!" Silver broke into a run mentally cursing that he didn't have the speed that made Sonic famous. Silver prayed to whatever deity that might be listening to spare his parents. Silver remembered growing up witnessing the death of his parents. Shortly after that, Silver was placed in the last orphanage in his future until one by one all of the other orphans died at the hands of Eggman's robots.

"Please let them live!" Silver ran towards his terrified parents. "Don't shoot them!"

The Egg pawns fired their red lasers slicing through their skin and tissue. Silver's parents let out one last scream of pain, the crimson blood gushing into the air. Silver watched horrified seeing his parents slump over dead their eyes staring sightlessly up into the crimson skies. The telekinetic hedgehog sank to his knees in grief digging his nails into the dusty ground the low sobs left his throat before the image faded away.

* * *

The telekinetic hedgehog crouched on the ground with tears running down his face. The white hedgehog's sides heaved for breath. His entire body trembled from the effects of the strange illusion. The burning wreckage was gone. His parents were gone. Come to think of Silver was back in Mystic Jungle Infinite watching him. Silver winced from a pounding headache in his skull.

"How is it possible for you to do that?" Silver asked a tremor in his voice from what he'd witnessed in the illusion. "Why did you show me how my parents died?"

"So the weak rabble chooses to mourn the parents, he once had," Infinite chuckled in sadistic glee. "You should be thankful that they're gone. They would've become a burden, sooner or later."

Silver growled wiping away the last of the tears with the back of his hand. The telekinetic hedgehog became angered at the jackal's cruel words. Silver activated his powers by wrapping them around a small tree branch and with a scream of pure anger swung the tree branch with all of his might slamming into Infinite.

"You're fucking sick!" Silver screamed angrily, his face contorted in anger."I will make you pay for all of the Mobians you've killed!"

Infinite shook his head from side to side, recovering from the blow. The jackal simply threw several red balls of energy at the telekinetic hedgehog resuming their fight once more. Silver focused his powers several rocks, throwing them at Infinite. Infinite's response was to create more clones the stones passed through them harmlessly leaving the real jackal charged forward for Silver kicking him into the wall. Infinite heard the dull thud Silver's body made colliding with the wall as the telekinetic hedgehog dropped to the ground, making one last attempt to get to his feet, but soon unconsciousness washed over Silver.

Infinite panted heavily the faint trickle of blood running down his shoulders and underneath the blind side of his mask. Half of the Phantom Ruby's power depleted in the battle. The white hedgehog with strange powers was someone he'd underestimated.

"Infinite!" Eggman screamed. "Pick up now."

Infinite sighed in irritation. The jackal pressed a hand against the side of the helmet where the communicator nestled in his right ear.

"Doctor, I've disposed of the final prototype, and with that, the disposal of all of the prototypes is finally complete," Infinite said keeping an emotionless expression on his face. "I've bested one of the Resistance rabble and his death will be a message to the world not to defy us."

" No, don't kill the rabble just yet," Eggman's voice crackled through the communicator. "Infinite stand down and wait for my next order."

For a few minutes, infinite listened to the static from the communicator in his large ear. The jackal huffed in annoyance clenching his fist. The doctor dared to waste his time with his inability to make a decision? The jackal's tail twitched in impatience pacing back and forth. There was a chance that the telekinetic hedgehog would wake up at any moment and with the Phantom Ruby at half power, Infinite had no wish to engage him in combat again.

"I have an idea what we can do with him," Eggman's voice came through the radio after a few tense minutes dripping with menace. "I have a feeling that you will like it."

Infinite listened to the Doctor's idea the small smirk forming underneath his mask before a low chuckle slipped out of his mouth.

"Ah, Doctor that is indeed the perfect plan," Infinite smirked. "Holding one of their own as a hostage. The perfect way to strike fear into their hearts."

For now, the jackal would follow Eggman and obey his commands, but once he left this accursed jungle, he was going to get answers from Eggman as who would dare defile the final resting place of his squadmates.

* * *

If there were one thing Sonic never wanted to feel on his back again, it would have to be water. However, the force of the rough water was dragging him almost at breakneck speeds down the massive water slides; water shot up his nostrils leaving the blue hedgehog to cough and gag on it. Kaito and Gadget were behind him.

"Isn't this fun Sonic?"

Sonic turned his head slightly seeing Gadget, next to him with his hands raised in the air briefly before slamming into the deactivated Motobugs spinning around on their back sending them skidding off the wooden slide. Sonic shuddered to recall all of the times he'd been forced underwater the cold liquid being forced into his throat, stomach, and lungs the many times he'd nearly drowned only to be roughly pulled to the surface, thrown onto the ground feeling a sharp smack against his back forcing him to expel the water.

"Sonic Are you okay?"

Sonic snapped out his ruminations to see Tails hovering near him with a concerned expression on his face.

"I will be once this hellish waterslide is over," Sonic grumpily replied huffing in irritation. "At least Gadget's enjoying it for some weird reason and Kaito's quiet."

Sonic briefly glanced at the yellow Chaos Emerald nestled in Tails' palm. The kit had found it lying on the ground after they'd destroyed the small battalion of robots. Standing guard in the clearing a while back, according to Knuckles the Resistance had two Chaos Emeralds, and Eggman had three Chaos Emeralds. With Tails, having found the sixth Chaos Emerald, there was only one more left to claim before Eggman got his hands on the last Chaos Emerald.

I can't shake the feeling that we've seen Gadget before, but where and when?

The hellish waterslide in Sonic's opinion thankfully came to a stop. Gadget activated his grappling hook latching on to the several of the small hooks, making sure to grab Kaito with his other hand carrying his adoptive brother. Sonic reached up to grab Tails' hands the fox transported Sonic over the massive gap, landing on the other side of the plateau the roar of the water rushed over the edge of the waterslide.

"Sonic, please say that you're there!" Amy frantically cried out over the crackling static. "Silver's in trouble, and he's engaged Infinite, and there's no response and please Sonic you have to hurry!"

Sonic tensely frowned. He didn't know Silver all that well, and in the distance, he'd heard the low hum of the distant fleet of Eggman's ships. Sonic'd seen the fire that was caused by Eggman's fleet. The caustic way that Eggman was destroying Mobius seeing the thick smoke clouds climbing into the skies blotting out the moon. Sonic looked over seeing the expressions of horror on Kaito's Tails' and Gadget's faces staring at the wall of destruction in the far distance, hoping that no one else they knew was dead in this war.

"We'll be there soon as we can Amy," Sonic spoke into the communicator ignoring his trembling hand. "It's time to get some payback against Infinite."

Sonic took off with Tails and Kaito not too far behind him. Gadget hurried after them skidding to a stop spying a flash of magenta embedded in the dirt. The wolf ran over to the source of the glowing gem bending down on one knee, his fingertips scraping away at the mud and water slowly extracting the strange jewel. It bore a resemblance to the Phantom Ruy except it had black lines running all along its sides.

What the heck is this thing?

Gadget jolted in surprise when the gem began to glow in his hands. The wolf turned it overlooking at in wonder. The small tiny magenta stars slowly flowed underneath the surface of the strange ruby like object in his hand.

"Gadget! Come on you need to keep up!"

Gadget looked up to see Sonic standing there tapping his foot slightly in impatience, his arms folded across his chest. The wolf tucked away from the strange gem in one of the pockets along the edge of his utility belt breaking into a run to keep up with Sonic races ahead at his trademark Super Sonic run speeding away into the distance. The muddy water splattered against their footwear catching up to Kaito and Tails fleeing in the opposite direction.

"Holy shit!" Kaito exclaimed. "That's a huge snake."

Sonic paused, the ground began to shake violently. A flash of ebony scales caught his eye the sight of the massive black snake erupting from the foliage in a shower of torn vegetation. The snake lashed out for Sonic and Gadet who ducked and weaved away from the snake's vicious onslaught.

"Eggman's attack on the jungle must've aggravated it," Sonic said grimly fists clenched regarding their massive reptilian opponent sizing up the snake silently wondering how they were going to take down the massive reptile."We're not getting past it without a fight!"

The snake let out an enraged hissing sound. The reptiles' first move was to lash out with its massive head snapping up both Sonic and Gadget in a single movement swallowing them whole. Tails and Kaito stared in horror, refusing to believe what they'd witnessed. Both of their adoptive brothers were gone, swallowed by the monstrous snake turning its attention to the two of them, its pink tongue flickered in and out of its mouth.

"Spit them out!" Tails screamed in panic. "Spit them out right now!"

Tails upon seeing Sonic vanish into the snake's mouth snapped into action. The young fox flew up to the snake's eyes. The snake responded by opening its mouth exposing the pair of white fangs. Kaito broke into a run the snarl on his face resembled Zerinn's so much he lashed out with the flamberge scoring several hits on the ebony scales causing small trickles of blood welling up from the cuts.

The snake thrashed around in pain from the injuries. The crimson streams of blood ran over the black scales. Kaito ran out of range the snake slammed its mighty tail into the ground, sending up clouds of dust from the impact sending tremors through the field causing the jackal to lose his footing briefly. Tails saw the snake opening its mouth exposing the pair of fangs Tails was sure were poisonous.

"Let them go!"

Tails flew right up to the snake's right side of its face, placing his hands on both sides of the snake's mouth. With a grunt Tails forced the lips of the snake open the spying a sodden pair of blue and red fur looking up with something akin to relief on their faces.

Kaito ran up the length of the snake's body, grabbing onto the left side of the snake's mouth. The jackal pushed up on the other sides of the snake's mouth. The reptile began to swing its head from side to side. The violent motions of the movement threatened to shake Kaito and Tails lose.

"Kaito, whatever happens, don't let go!" Tails called out straining to keep the snake from closing its mouth. "Otherwise Sonic and Gadget will die."

"Yeah, yeah, I've got the impression that they'll become snake food," Kaito replied grimly back."Tell that to the pissed off legless freak."

Kaito and Tails struggled to keep their footing on the smooth hide of the snake's scales. The yellowish, red eyes stared malevolently at them. The snake was angry now. The two Mobians it'd swallowed earlier were refusing to go down its throat, making the process of consumption, not an easy task.

Gadget and Sonic tumbled down the wet, slippery muscles of the snake's throat. Gadget reacted immediately by throwing his arms and legs out feeling the weight of Sonic crashing into his back almost losing his grip on the slimy walls of the snake's throat. Sonic heard the wolf's terrified whimpering who was currently staring into the black abyss of the snake's throat sweat formed on both of their brows.

So this is how it ends. Gadget thought. We're both going to die.

Neither of them expected to see the darkness vanish to be replaced with the sight of a partially cloudy night sky with Kaito and Tails peering down into the snake's throat horror on their faces. Gadget knew if he lost his grip on the slimy walls, both of them would undoubtedly die.

"Oh, he's so going to regret that," Sonic muttered. "Hedgehogs don't exactly make good snacks."

"Okay, here goes partner," Sonic held out a hand to Gadget. "Hold on tight."

Gadget barely remembered what happened next. All the wolf could recall was Sonic grabbed him by the hand, and the two of them curled up into a ball something that hurt a bit to the wolf, but he would never admit it. Sonic jumped up curling up aiming for the roof of the snake's mouth. The hedgehog's quills slicing through the tender flesh and breaking through the fangs, and then the cold hard ground greeted them both.

With one last violent movement, the snake bucked both Kaito and Tails off it. The snake shot one last glare before slithering away into the night. Both Sonic and Gadget slowly stood up. The pair of broken fangs lay on the ground like a pair of broken daggers. Kaito and Tails let out sighs of relief embracing both Sonic and Gadget into tight embraces hugging their adoptive brothers tightly.

"Gadget thank goodness that you're okay," Kaito said in a faint whisper. "Please don't do that again. I've lost Zerinn. I can't lose you too."

Gadget closed his eyes, hugging Kaito back in a silent gesture to assure the older jackal that he wouldn't. They broke apart with smiles on their faces.

"Sonic I'm so glad that you're okay," Tails said with a tremor in his voice hugging Sonic. "Try to be a bit more careful from now on okay?"

"I will Tails." Sonic returned the embrace. The small smile was fading away from his mouth. The hedgehog couldn't shake the feeling Infinite was somewhere ahead of the small group. Sonic clenched his fist, allowing a slight tremble of fear. The horrific memories of the torture Sonic endured at the hands of Eggman came rushing back to him. The memories of hallucinating Amy, Tails, and Knuckles dying over and over again. All of the times the fake Shadow and Infinite forced him into cold water, the near death match races against Metal Sonic. The worst one had to be seeing Mobius burning on the monitor screens with Eggman's laughter ringing in the background gloating over Sonic's failure to defeat him.

"Sonic? Are you all right?"

Tails noticed Sonic's distress reaching up to place a gentle hand on Sonic's shoulder with a concerned expression on the young fox's face. For a few moments, Sonic stood there, his eyes closed, taking in deep breaths to calm himself mentally and physically. Jade eyes slowly opened with a scowl lining Sonic's face,

"I'll be fine Tails. Don't worry about it," Sonic replied, forcing a smile on his face. "If Infinite wants a fight, he's going to get one. It's payback time at last, and I promise that we will save Silver."

Everyone nodded in agreement, heading deep into the ruins in the direction of Eggman's old lab. The clouds slowly drifted in front of the moon. The low peal of thunder echoed in the distance foreshadowing the battle which was yet to come, between the Resistance and Eggman's monster who once had been a regular Mobian like them.

* * *

Disclaimer I have no claim to any of the characters, setting or the games used in this fic. They are the copyright of SEGA. The only things I own in this is my OCS.

Author's note.

 _I'm going to say this. The quick time event with the snake was one of my favorite scenes in the game. I remember the first time I played through this stage I never saw it coming, and it was a scene I knew I wanted to put into this story. The idea of Sonic and Gadget swallowed by the snake was an idea I had, to add some drama and as a bonus, we get to see Tails and Kaito are working together to save their adoptive brothers._

 _It's been a while since we've had a chapter mainly focused on Silver. For me, Silver is one of my favorite characters, and it felt right to have a chapter focus on him. Now the scene where Silver witnessed his parents getting shot dead at a young age, and the deaths of his parents left a deep mental scar on him, which is why he becomes enraged when Infinite flat out mocks him for it. Silver is also afraid of failing his mission, and it was the combination of these two events led to Silver losing his calm composure._

 _If you go to my profile page, I do have a poll up asking who you want to see as the penultimate threat. So far Infinite's in the lead at the moment. The poll will be up until June 5th._

 _I'm sorry that there was no fight with Infinite in this chapter. There will be a battle with Infinite will be coming pretty soon. I already put in the Infinite vs. Silver fight and the fight with the snake since I didn't want to cram too many fight scenes into one chapter._

 _That's all I have to say for now on this chapter, and as per usual Suggestions, thoughts and reviews are welcome and appreciated as always, and I will be back with the next chapter as soon as I can._


	17. Ruby Illusions

_Author's note. Okay, I'm back, and I would like to take the time to apologize for the missing paragraph in the last chapter, and I went back and fixed it. It was a slip up on my part, and when it comes to editing out my chapters I do spend over an hour editing it, but I will do my best to ensure that it won't happen again._

 _As always a big thank you to the people who've viewed, faved and followed this story. The same goes for the people who have left reviews on it. Thank you all for the support._

 _As per usual I have to say thank you to Stardust 1740, TGN, SD321,bajy, YamiChaos27, SharpDragonKlaw, AlexrandriaPrime, KeybladeWriter of the Dawn and the mystery guest for leaving a review. I appreciate the support from all of you._

 _Also a huge thank you to Spider Dom 321 for editing this chapter. He was a big help in this chapter for the work he did making me aware of errors I didn't notice and I'm thankful that he was able to help me out. Please do go out check his work._

* * *

In the distance, the low rumble of thunder echoed in the distance. The fat drops of rain fell from the heavens above. Sonic, raced ahead grimacing feeling the humid, wet drops sliding through his blue fur. The sound of Tails' Kaito's and Gadget's feet running on the wet slippery ground made him feel assured his friends were behind him and they would soon confront Infinite.

"Sonic the last time you fought against Infinite, it didn't go so well," Tails anxiously. "You nearly died while you were a prisoner in Eggman's hands."

Sonic paused in his stride the slight expression of fear appearing on his face. Memories of Infinite using the Phantom Ruby on Sonic, causing the hedgehog to endure the hallucinations of his friends dying over and over. The feel of Infinite's leather gloves, pressing against Sonic's windpipe, the sadistic joy the jackal got from Sonic's pain every time the hedgehog tried to break free of the cold waters only to get kicked in the face hearing the jackal laugh sadistically.

"I know Tails, but we can't let fear rule our hearts," Sonic said firmly convincing himself not to be afraid flashing a grin. "Besides Infinite's just another one of Eggman's robots. I'll smash him to bits; we can call it a day and go back to the base."

Sonic saw the looks of relief on the rest of his friend's faces as Kaito nodded stiffly. The rainstorm hit in full force as the small group raced through the winding tunnel racing to the vast rocky walls with several trees reaching up for the skyline the rain faded away the last peals of thunder boomed off in the distance a bolt of lightning striking the ground with a loud burst of energy.

"Sonic..."

Sonic looked up spying a flash of white fur lying amongst the muddy browns and greens of the forest floor. Silver laid on his side; his eyes were barely open the smallest expression of fear was on his face. High above him a flash of black fur hovered above Silver. Infinite watched Silver like a hawk. Silver let out a low moan opening his eyes, pushing himself up with his hands slowly getting to his feet; he took a step his legs trembling slightly from the exertion of their last fight.

"It's pathetic for you to have thrown your life away."

Infinite dived, making a beeline towards Silver. Sonic was faster homing attack into Infinite knocking the jackal away from Silver who sank to his knees propping himself up with one hand. Sonic landed between Silver and Infinite holding an arm out in a protective gesture.

"Sonic I'm sorry," Silver wheezed. Blood leaking from the small cuts all over his body. "I tried to fight him, but it was no use. Be careful; he's a monster."

"Silver stay back. You've done enough already."

Infinite let out a chuckle. The magenta glow surrounded the jackal the Phantom Ruby pulsing on his abdomen the small trickles of sweat through his fur. The doctor's main enemy had just presented himself as a gift. Infinite smiled, recalling all the times when he subjected Sonic to the illusions of the Phantom Ruby, seeing the look of fear and terror on the hedgehog's face.

"Well, look at the blue savior miraculously back from the dead," Infinite sneered pushing the mask back with his fingers. "I can sense your fear from here. You reeked strongly of it and did the memory of your defeat at my hands revived that fear?"

Sonic paused, turning in his head lifting up his left arm to sniff at his armpit.

"You can smell my fear?" Sonic replied cockily flashing a smile showing Infinite that he wasn't afraid. "You're imagining, things Infinite. I think that mask is blocking your sense of smell. I can smell you, and you reek, Heh."

"This will be the last time we meet you damn blue rat," Infinite stated keeping his arms folded across his chest. "Do not try my patience trash."

"Okay, so Infinite if this is the last time we're going to meet, then tell me a little about yourself," Sonic said eagerly to strike up a conversation. "So what's your favorite color? Are there songs you like to listen to in the middle of the night? Oh, before I forget what's the secret behind your power and what's up with the gem on your chest?"

"Cobalt blue, edgy music and the last one is none of your concern," Infinite unfolded his arms, exposing the Phantom Ruby with the magenta glow surrounded it. "This will be your end."

Tails, Gadget, and Kaito, hurried into the clearing, their attention drawn to Infinite hovering his arms folded across his chest. The jackal's gaze zeroed in on Sonic. Gadget trembled, his breath coming out in short gasps. His heart beat even quicker in fear. The memory of seeing his friends killed right before him came rushing back in a flood of awful memories.

"Hey, Gadget," Kaito nudged him looking at Infinite with something akin to hope and sadness at the same time on his face. "It may be just wishful thinking, but don't you think that Infinite looks a lot like Zerinn?"

Upon closer inspection Gadget understood what Kaito had noticed about Infinite. Infinite did have long white dreadlocks like Zerinn, the stripes on Infinite's body were identical, and it was the same case for his black and silver gloves and boots.

No, it couldn't be. Infinite looks so much like Zerinn. Gadget thought. There's no way that Infinite Zerinn could be the same person?

Sonic's voice drew the wolf out of his thoughts. Silver was on his feet by now a dark glare aimed at Infinite which the jackal chose to ignore it maintaining a calm composure his tail twitching in impatience for a fight.

"Oh well, that's too bad," Sonic rebuked the smile gone from his face. "Then I'll have to make you tell me you masked prick!"

The blue hedgehog lunged for Infinite. Everyone in the area held their breath waiting for the fight to start.

"Finally a challenge," Infinite said, throwing out his arms. "This will be interesting, and I'd like to see you try!"

The Phantom Ruby activated unleashing a red wave of energy over the field. The whole area was shaken by violent tremors knocking everyone off their feet. The ground began to shake violently as several massive black snakes erupted from the ground, twisting over each other high in the sky forming an endless loop of long scale-covered bodies.

"Sonic look out!" Tails cried out in panic. "He's coming from the front!"

Sonic barely had time to register Tails' warning feeling the impact of Infinite slamming into his chest. The force of the impact knocked him over the wall, landing on the smooth back of the snake. Sonic jumped back in a slight panic expecting the snake to come to life and attempt to swallow him. The hedgehog didn't want a repeat of his previous experience earlier that evening.

Infinite hovered not too far away from him. His eyes were watching Sonic closely like a hawk watching its prey. Sonic's response to was to break into a run chasing Infinite.

"So even after all of that torture you still have some of your strength you blue rat."

"That mask must make you blind to," Sonic retorted. "I'm a hedgehog and stop being a weak coward, and I'll introduce you to my spines!"

Infinite whipped around making a beeline for Sonic with a scream of rage. Sonic curled up into a ball homing attacking Infinite. A fist to the face was Sonic's reward for his attack followed up by a hard kick to the chest knocking him to the ground.

"That was pathetic, get a load of this."

The electronic ringing sounded again, and Sonic saw several red cubes closing in on both sides of him. Sonic jumped up twice avoiding Infinite's next attack. The relief he felt when he landed on the snake was a brief feeling the ground shift underneath his feet, and he saw several sharp spikes erupting from the body of the snake.

"Whoa, this can't be real. How is it that it feels real, but at the same time it's not?" Sonic asked himself looking up at the several spikes jutting in and out of the snake's body. He spied Infinite from the corner of his eye. That mystery would have to wait, for now, he had to deal with Eggman's pet monster.

Infinite slammed into Sonic landing on top of Sonic pinning him down. Sonic felt Infinite's claws slicing through his fur and skin, leaving faint trickles of blood running down his arms. There was one thing Sonic noticed about Infinite straight away. The jackal had some form of muscle along his arms and legs. A leather gloved hand reached out to Sonic's upper left arm tightening his grip on it, leaving a bruise on the peach fur.

"This is the end," Infinite said mockingly. "How did it feel seeing your pathetic friends die over and over?"

Sonic felt the spark of anger erupt in his chest. He turned his face towards Infinite shooting him a dark glare.

"They're not pathetic," Sonic snarled in anger. "The only pathetic one I see here is you!"

Sonic kicked out hard against the jackal's abdomen. The jackal sat upright, placing a hand placed his hand on the right side of his stomach wincing slightly. Sonic lunged for Infinite landing several kicks and punches into Infinite's body some of them landed on Infinite's mask. The mask began to crack underneath the pressure of the attack.

The jackal drove a foot into Sonic's chest shooting up into the sky again, creating several clones of himself, several of them unleashed red balls of energy in a fiery hailstorm. To the watchers on the ground, it was apparent Infinite had lost his mind.

"Okay, now I've pissed him off," Sonic frowned. "I need to end this fight right now."

Sonic put on a burst of speed ducking and weaving from the onslaught of energy blasts heading to the spring at the top of the snake's head. Sonic catapulted into the air by the force of the spring where the group of Infinite clones hovered getting ready to unleash their attack once more.

"Hey, Infinite let's play a game of find the dog!"

Sonic homing attacked through the glitching clones passing through them red cubes scattering everywhere until he spied the real Infinite. Sonic slammed into the jackal the force of the impact knocked the jackal out of the air, the red wave of energy dissipated having broken Infinite's concentration. The two of them tumbled out of the sky in a free fall heading towards the bottom of the jungle floor before a flash of orange fur grabbed Sonic's hand pulling him away from Infinite.

"Thanks for the save Tails."

"It's no problem Sonic," Tails replied. "If we capture Infinite here, then Eggman loses his weapon, and I can analyze that gemstone on his chest."

The two of them watched Infinite crash against the ground, bouncing off it several times pieces of his mask breaking off as he skidded to a stop laying on his side with a low groan of pain.

"Infinite's down!" Silver cried out. "Now's our chance!"

Gadget had already withdrawn his Drill Wispon breaking into a run alongside Kaito the two of them raced over to where Infinite lay his back to them. His sides rose and fell, indicating Infinite was still alive. Gadget took in a deep breath raising the tip of the Drill Wispon preparing to strike Infinite.

"Russell, Aria, Mary, Tyson, and Ian," Gadget paused a moment, hearing his voice crack with emotion when he said his friends' names. "You're all going to be avenged soon."

As Gadget prepared to land the killing blow, a sudden weight knocked him to the side. The Wispon was knocked from his hands as Gadget let out a low moan looking up to see that Kaito in his haste had knocked Gadget aside the flamberge dropping from his fingers.

"Kaito! What the hell do you think that you're doing?!" Gadget cried out in anger. "Infinite's killed a lot of people. Some of his victims were my friends. Infinite doesn't need protection. He needs to face justice for his crimes."

"Zerinn?"

Kaito stared in shock; his grip slackened on the hilt of the flamberge dropping it to the ground. Gadget saw Infinite slowly getting up the right side of his mask was partially destroyed. A deep blue eye peered out along with a pair of scars including a large one.

"Kaito?!" Infinite took several steps forward, the left side of his mask still obscuring the left side of his face. The jackal felt a strange sort of relief. "This is an illusion. You died how could you be alive—"

"Eggman's robots saved me," Kaito muttered sullenly. "They also retrieved the rest of the Jackal Squad."

The silence fell over the area to the listener's ears; there was a sullen tone in Kaito's voice. The sad expression on the younger jackal's face for all of them to see. Gadget silently approached Kaito gently squeezing his left shoulder in a gesture of comfort.

"Wait, a minute," Tails spoke up confused. "How do you know Infinite Kaito?"

Kaito looked around with a pained expression on his face.

"Guys. There's no easy way to say it," Kaito replied, looking Infinite dead in the eye. "Infinite is my older half-brother."

There were gasps of the shock coming from all around in the area. Silver, Tails, and Sonic glanced at each other unsure how to process the revelation unfolding in front of them.

"Kaito is related to Infinite?"

"I thought you were dead," Infinite replied, his voice cracking with emotion. "I thought that Shadow killed you along with the rest of my squad."

"Fenrir, Hela, Roscoe, Blade and Iris died," Kaito said, fighting back his tears, his voice on the verge of cracking."Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys are still alive, but I don't know where they are."

Infinite felt himself relax slightly. Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys still lived. They were still out there somewhere in Mobius.

Infinite lowered his gaze towards Gadget. The trembling wolf stood there, his amber eyes wide with shock. Sonic, Silver, and Tails skidded to a stop, watching the scene playing out before them. Infinite noticed for the first time by glancing in a puddle, half of his mask was gone.

Infinite's reaction was to hold a hand in front of his face making eye contact with any of his enemies. The Mobians who wanted him dead.

"You killed all of those people," Gadget broke the silence with a tremor in his voice. "How could you Zerinn? I'm sorry about what happened a few years ago, but it's still no excuse. You killed my friends!"

Gadget pushed down on his fear of replacing it with pure rage grabbing his Drill Wispon. The wolf felt a sense of conflict building deep within him. Memories of more innocent times when he and Zerinn spent together, the jackal placing an ice pack on his swollen wrist, the time where they'd gotten that photo taken and the most painful memory of all was the day they ended their friendship.

"Wait a minute," Sonic called out, panting slightly from his fight with Infinite. "The friend you mentioned that died is Infinite?"

There was no mistaking the horror in the hedgehog's voice his brain processing the information. Gadget saw the look of shock in Infinite's at the sight of Kaito standing there. The expression on his face was a mixture of betrayal and defiance.

"Sonic I won't lie to you," Gadget said wearily, his ears were folded back against his skull. "Zerinn's a former friend of mine, and I thought he was dead. I had no idea he chose to become a monster."

Silver looked over at Kaito the young jackal refused to make eye contact with Silver. "Kaito, and Gadget, when this mission is over I'll have to bring you both in for questioning," Silver stated his tone fierce. "Most importantly, for now, Infinite has to be subdued."

Infinite ducked a blast of cyan energy running forward to engage Silver grabbing the psychic by the arm and tossing him off to the side. Tails lunged for Infinite who ducked the attempt kicking the young fox in the face knocking him to the ground. Infinite hurried over to the fox running a hand over his fur spying the gleam of the yellow Chaos Emerald. Infinite plucked the Chaos Emerald from Tails' hands.

"That's it! No one hurts Tails and gets away with it!"

Sonic curled down, curling up into a ball, and spin dashed towards Infinite who moved out of the way. Kaito hesitated to reach for his fragment of the Phantom Ruby on his chest. Maybe if he activated, it would create an illusion that would stall Infinite long to be captured by his allies.

"I can't just use it like this," Kaito whispered to himself. " Infinite is my half-brother. How could Zerinn stoop so low to kill a lot of innocent lives?"

Infinite hovered out of reach of Sonic's next attack. The hedgehog landed on the ground a frustrated expression on his face staring up at Infinite.

"The, Doctor's original intention was to offer up Silver as a hostage, for the Chaos Emerald," Infinite's gaze zeroed in on Kaito. "However, I think that a new hostage for whatever Chaos Emeralds that the Resistance has will suffice."

Before anyone could stop him, Infinite shot off in a red trail of light grabbing Kaito around his midsection. Both jackals rose into the sky. Infinite was weighed down slightly by Kaito's weight. Infinite heard Kaito throwing curses at Infinite as the jackal looked down seeing Sonic, Tails, Silver, and Gadget running after the two jackals before Infinite turned with one last triumphant look facing the members of the Resistance.

"As I predicted none of you were worth, the effort even to finish off."

Infinite sped off into the distance with Kaito's cries for help growing fainter with one last howl of sadness fading away into the distance.

Gadget and Sonic raced in Infinite's direction. Gadget could tell Sonic was starting to slow down his exhaustion catching up to him. Sonic's brain was still reeling from the info Gadget' admitted to him several minutes ago.

"Keep going, partner!" Sonic said seeing the look of fear in Gadget's eyes. "We can still catch them!"

"I know!" Gadget replied. "Hang in there Kaito we're coming!"

The hedgehog and the wolf forced themselves to keep running until the cramp in their sides became too much for them. They slowed down panting heavily. Gadget looked up to the sky thinking of Kaito. A couple of hours ago Kaito aided Tails in saving him from being eaten by a snake, and now, Gadget had failed his adoptive brother.

"Gadget."

The wolf turned around to see an injured Silver limping slightly towards him with a severe expression on his face.

"Once we get back to headquarters, you have a lot of explaining to do," Silver said sternly. "The Commander will want to hear about this."

"You lied to me buddy," Sonic said dejection in his voice. "We need to head back."

Gadget mutely nodded, too tired even to argue or fight back, and the small dejected group began to make their way back towards their base in Sunset Heights. The wolf knew the truth that he was once friends with Infinite out in the open about his future as a member of the Resistance was looking grim.

* * *

Green Hill Zone

The soft predawn colors came over the hill as Eggman waited impatiently in his Egg Mobile with Orbot and Cubot sitting as Eggman scowled down at the latest report that came in. Arsenal Pyramid was destroyed. Eggman saw the meter at the top of his screen showing that the Resistance claimed 25% of Mobius back. The Eggman Empire still held 75% of the planet under his control.

"Damn the Resistance! They're now becoming a menace now," Eggman snarled banging on the console. "I should've taken them out right at the start of this war."

Infinite landed awkwardly on the ground the last of the Phantom Ruby's power gone. His legs buckled stumbling on top of Kaito sending the two jackals crashing to the ground. Kaito who silently struggled out from underneath him as Orbot and Cubot grabbed Kaito by the arms. Kaito turned his face away from Infinite refusing to even look at him.

"Doctor, the Phantom Ruby's power is gone for now," Infinite reported. "It needs time to recharge."

"Yes, well at least all the prototypes have been destroyed," Eggman said. "They were all defective models that could only be used once and with the lab in Mystic Jungle now closed; we should be out of the woods."

"I, also engaged Sonic in Mystic jungle," Infinite said smugly. "He was mere trash and thus not even worth the effort to finish off."

"What do you mean Sonic's still alive?!" Eggman screamed pure rage in the mad tyrant's voice. "That is a major concern!"

"For you perhaps, but I've bested Sonic twice now."

Infinite remained unconcerned at Eggman's glare aimed at him. It was comical that he'd been able to trounce Sonic while the fat buffoon in front of him couldn't even do that. Infinite silently handed over the yellow Chaos Emerald to Eggman who took it still scowling.

"Mark my words Infinite, Sonic is dangerous if left alive to our plans," Eggman snarled in frustration. "We'll need to move forward with our plan to eliminate the Resistance!"

Kaito's ears twitched. So far Infinite no Zerinn hadn't even asked once about the location of Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys. Then again Kaito didn't know where they were either. Kaito felt a small wave of anger building up at Zerinn for the lack of care about the surviving members of the Jackal Squad.

"I want no harm to come to Kaito," Infinite said. "He is my hostage, and when we've burned the world to ashes, I want Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys to be brought to me as well."

"I will hand them over to you Infinite," Eggman said eagerly. "We're almost ready for the time when I will eliminate the Resistance once and for all and burn the rest of the world to ashes, and I will build my glorious Eggman Empire at long last!"

Kaito felt the chill creeping down his spine at the mad doctor's words. Kaito saw Infinite flash a wicked smile exposing the sharp tips of his teeth.

"And soon all of the trash on this boring planet will submit to the power of the Phantom Ruby," Infinite said unable to hide the glee in his voice. "All will either bow down to us or get erased from the world."

Eggman laughed long and loud joined in by Infinite along with Eggman's two robots with Kaito standing off into the distance looking horrified at what he'd just overheard. Infinite who he thought was Zerinn was dead and gone, to be replaced by the masked monster looking forward to the world's demise.

"I won't let them hurt everyone else in the Resistance," Kaito vowed to himself. "I don't know how, but I'll find a way."

* * *

 _Author's note_

 _Even though the title is a reference to Sonic Mania I still stand by what I mean and Classic Sonic is not going to make a sudden appearance in this story._

 _Well, this was a hard chapter for me to write out because I wasn't sure how I wanted it to go. I had a bit of trouble with it since I went through a few ideas what to do for the first fight with Infinite, and the meeting with Eggman, but I wanted to use the ending to set up a couple of things later on in the story._

 _Eggman finally makes his return here after being absent from the narrative for a while. I planned for him to make his return around this point since he's far from happy that both the prison at Green Hill Zone and now his main weapons factory is destroyed Eggman's decided that it's time to wipe out the Resistance._

 _It was my intention for Sonic and Infinite to engage in banter before their fight and a fun fact in the Japanese version of Forces both Sonic and Knuckles call Infinite a masked prick and Infinite has more of a God complex in the Japanese version of Forces and you can find the scenes up on Youtube._

 _Now then there are some nods to the Wolf and the Jackal in this chapter since I planned to have Gadget and Kaito discover that Infinite is, in fact, Zerinn. Both Gadget and Kaito feeling nothing, but betrayal, towards Zerinn. Poor Kaito got the end of the short stick when Infinite captures him, and he will have a role to play, but you'll have to wait and see what that role is._

 _I do hope that people enjoyed this chapter since it was a hard one to write._

 _Also just out of curiosity what did you guys think of the new Sonic Mania Adventures episode?_

 _So as per usual please do feel free to leave Thoughts, suggestions, and reviews which is always welcomed and appreciated._

 _I will see you guys next time and have a good weekend and please do stay safe._


	18. This is war part 1

_Author's note_

 _Well, here we back once more and I have the next chapter for you guys to enjoy._

 _Also 118 reviews? I never expected this story to have this many reviews already. Thank you all so much for the support._

 _As per usual a big thank you for all of the lovely people who have viewed left a favorite or follow. You guys are the best._

 _As always I have to give a big thank you to SpiderDom321, TheGameNGuyener, AlexrandriaPrime (happy belated birthday by the way), YamiChaos27, KeybladeWriter of the Dawn, bajy, and Sharp DragonKlaw I genuinely appreciate your support, and it does mean a lot to me._

 _Well here we go without any further delay here is the next chapter and things are going to get a bit intense in this chapter._

* * *

Mt. Yuji was a massive mountain located in the far northernmost parts of Mobius. Due to the harsh nature of the climate very few Mobians dared to build their homes here, there was nothing, but rough terrain all around. It was the perfect place for Eggman to set up his main base. In the six months following his takeover of Mobius Eggman stood in front of the window in his tower hands folded behind his back looking down at his empire.

The once vibrant planet was now nearly a robotic shell of its former self. Eggman built many factories mass-producing Eggman's robots by the day all around the world. The people were on the verge of giving in to despair, and once the Resistance was wiped off the face of Mobius for good, then there would be nothing to stop Eggman's takeover of the world.

Three days had passed ever since the Resistance encountered Infinite in Mystic Jungle which resulted in Kaito's kidnapping. Both sides were busy planning out their next move in the war.

"Oh, my conquer of Mobius has been a long time coming," Eggman said running a pair of fingers through his mustache. "Soon Mobius will be mine! I think that I'll rename it Robobius."

"Yes, boss, until Sonic finds a way to disrupt your plans," Orbot avoided the slap Eggman aimed at him. "I mean, it's what he's always done. Sonic foiled your plan to use Dark Gaia's energy to build Eggman Land, enslaving the five different planets and the Wisps for their energy to build a mind control ray to brainwash everyone on the planet and oh, don't forget about your botched attempt to enslave the Deadly Six and draining Mobius dry to fuel your army."

Eggman chose to ignore Orbot's remark by waving a hand distracted by the robot lazily stroking his mustache again. "Oh, Orbot this time not even Sonic, will be able to stand against what I have planned."

Cubot came hurrying up to the rotund figure. Eggman slowly turned on his heel hearing the sound of a pair of footsteps announcing both Metal Sonic and Eggman's pet monster. Infinite discarded his old broken mask replacing it with a new one.

"Doctor, I have rounded up all the prisoners that were onboard the Death Egg. They are in the prison cells, just like you requested," Infinite spoke softly adjusting his mask with two of his fingers pushing it up. "I've obtained no leads on the location of the Resistance base."

Eggman scowled in anger. Kaito was a member of the Resistance, but he was stubborn to the core, and he looked over at Infinite the masked jackal tilted his head ever so slightly. For the first time for over six months, Infinite felt a tiny stab of guilt in his heart. It wasn't just about getting information from the Resistance and Kaito was still alive, but his younger half-brother refused to look at him.

"I have no idea of where the Resistance base may be boss," Orbot said. "I think that it could be in Sunset Heights."

Eggman opened his mouth to make an angry retort before he paused. Eggman pressed a button on his wrist with several holographic images floating before him. Metropolis was under his rule already with several black and red flags hanging all over the massive urban city with the Eggman Empire symbol stamped on them. Eggman looked through each of the holographic images. It was the same story everywhere. All of them showed destroyed towns; the structures were slowly crumbling, Eggman's forces roamed the desolated streets capturing citizens dragging them out of their hiding places. The only city that was unaffected by the destruction was Sunset Heights.

"Of course," Eggman grinned deviously. "The source of all of your problems is always in the last place you expect to find them."

"Orbot and Cubot to me!" Eggman cried out. The two robots snapped to attention., Metal Sonic and Infinite looked up their gazes zeroing in on their leader.

"It's time to take the fight to the Resistance!" Eggman exclaimed, throwing his arms out in a full sweeping gesture. There was no mistaking the excitement in the doctor's voice. "I will fire up Project Jackal, and it's time to dust off an old classic."

"Should I get the Egg Dragoon ready for you, sir?"

Eggman shook his head, denying Orbot's question. "No, I think that the Egg Dragoon is overused," Eggman began to walk towards the pair of large metal doors which opened with a hiss. "First of all, I have a Resistance to crush."

Infinite walked on Eggman's right side with Metal Sonic on the left side of Eggman. The trio walked down the long hallway heading past the single, cell where Kaito lay slumped against the wall with his large ears folded back against his skull. Kaito's eyes were closed the single small tear slipping down his muzzle projecting the jackal's despair and sadness.

"Doctor? Do you need Metal Sonic and I on this mission?"

"No. I want both you and Metal Sonic to head to Metropolis," Eggman responded by stroking his mustache. "Besides Sonic and his rabble of friends have been a damn thorn in my side for far too long," Eggman chuckled sadistically. "I'm going to eliminate Sonic's friends one by one in front of Sonic to break him mentally and physically, and when he's at his lowest point..., I'll end his life."

Infinite wisely chose not to respond. The masked jackal and Metal Sonic took a left hearing the small door on the side of the hallway open the cold blast of mountain air filled the large room chilling two of the three occupants to the bone. The Phantom Ruby was recharged allowing Infinite to tap into the Phantom's Ruby's power once more. For several minutes Infinite inclined his head in the direction of Kaito's cell.

From his cell Kaito watched his older half-brother taking off into the sky in a red trail of light. Kaito scowled striking a fist against the ground feeling a combination of frustration and sorrow building up inside of the young jackal.

"Zerinn you sold your soul to that fucking monster," Kaito whispered sadly. "And for what? Strength ha what a stupid term," Kaito muttered, his voice was trembling with sorrow. "When did Quartz, Nephthys, Gadget, Mikhail, Saber, and I stop being important to you?"

Kaito strained his ears listening for some response to his question. Only to hear none as he let out a low sigh, his ears drooping low.

Kaito paused, looking noticing the blue chaos inhibitor cuffs dug into his fur. Kaito let out a low sigh, looking up at the small dirty bed with an equally dirty blanket. The former mercenary was tired, and his body was urging him to get some sleep. Kaito reluctantly made his way awkwardly the bed, lying down on it, his yellow eyes staring at the gray wall. The pulsing of his fragment in his chest made the young jackal feel uneasy.

Kaito was exhausted mentally and physically with the massive revelation Zerinn was Infinite weighing heavily on his mind the young jackal laid down on the small bed hearing the springs creak underneath his weight.

"Eggman can have Zerinn," Kaito vowed to himself. "Zerinn's not my brother anymore. As far as I'm concerned Zerinn's dead."

Eggman with Orbot and Cubot hovering near his shoulder, walked on ahead through the hallway making a left into a small room where three beds stood in a row. The obese scientist raised a pair of fingers snapping them. At the silent command, a trio of jackals materialized out of the shadows running over to Eggman bending down on one knee in a gesture of respect and submission.

All three jackals materialized from out of the shadows. Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys approached Eggman. Eggman noticed the faint scars across Saber's and Nephthys' throats. Quartz bore a faint scar across his chest. Around each of their necks, a thick black cord rested with each of them had a Phantom Ruby prototype shard at the end of it.

"Ah Saber, Nephthys, and Quartz," Eggman addressed them. "You know that both Zerinn has perished, and all three of you serve me now." Is there a problem with that?"

"That's fine with me," Quartz replied with a sneer gracing his face. "Both Zerinn and that fucking monster, Shadow are the reasons that half of our family is dead. The sooner we get our revenge on Shadow the quicker, I'll be satisfied with the outcome."

Eggman paused to regard Quartz in silence. It was clear the oldest member of the former Jackal Squad harbored a deep grudge towards Shadow and Zerinn. The jackal's yellow eyes darted around the area his lips pulled back in a vicious snarl his fingers tracing the edges of the kunai stored in several small slots on the sizeable brown sheath slung across his shoulders.

"I agree," Saber added in narrowing his eyes an expression of contempt at the mention of his former leader's name. "He chose that path of destruction, and we chose ours."

"What are we waiting for, Doctor?" Nephthys queried fingering the pendant with the shard of the Phantom Ruby hanging around her neck. "You saved us, and as much as I hate to admit it, we owe you one."

Eggman's grin was sinister. The rotund scientist led the way with the three former members of the Jackal Squad behind him. The three of them passed the cell where Kaito's back faced the cell doors. Saber stood there transfixed as though he could feel the waves of misery and despair rolling of the youngest member of their family. For several minutes a small flicker of compassion flared up in Saber's chest before he pushed it back down.

"Saber! Hurry up will you?! Shadow's not going to kill himself!"

The shortest member of the band of mercenaries ran on ahead, unable to shake the feeling that they were making a mistake. The same path that led Zerinn to his insanity and supposed demise.

* * *

The tension was high in the Resistance base. The midnight moon shone its light illuminating the dark cell. Gadget sat on the hard bench with his hands and ankles cuffed together his gaze drawn to the small dirt encrusted ground of his cell. Gadget didn't want to remember coming back to the base with an injured Silver having to hear only to have Silver relaying what happened in Mystic jungle the looks of shock and betrayal on everyone's faces after hearing the news that Gadget knew Infinite. The next thing that happened was Knuckles ordering Gadget to be taken to the single cell and under guard usually by a pair of volunteers.

Some of Gadget's guards entered his cell, lashing out at the wolf, calling him a traitor landing vicious kicks to the wolf landing kicks and punches leaving throbbing sore points all over the wolf's body. Gadget couldn't fight back the deep purple bruises that were all over his body. Sitting on the bench helped somewhat for the painful injuries all over his body.

"Hey, Gadget."

Gadget lifted up his eyes, making eye contact with Amy. His gaze zeroed in on the plate of dry sandwiches. His stomach growled in hunger. The first day he had been thrown into the cell he'd fed sandwiches to eat. The bread was a little dry, and the meat was expired, but the wolf was far from caring. The news of Kaito's capture was a blow to the Resistance since Kaito was one of their more prominent members and Gadget felt the ache in his chest from missing his adoptive brother.

"So how's Silver doing?"

"Sahara says that he will heal with time and his injuries were not too serious," Amy replied her tone distracted. "Everyone in the Resistance knows that you and Infinite used to be friends."

"Great, so let me guess everyone hates me then?"

Amy made a noise of sympathy. It was far from the love-struck teenager that followed Sonic everywhere he went, but, It was more the sound of a sympathetic tone of a woman who was trying to help her friend through a difficult emotional time.

"Well, yes and no," Sonic spoke up for the first time stepping out of the shadows. Gadget made eye contact with Sonic for the first time since his imprisonment, and he saw the raw pain in Sonic's eyes. Gadget knew Sonic had been through unspeakable torture for the last six months and behind the emerald eyes, Sonic was hurting deeply. "Everyone's accusing you of being a spy."

"Sonic, I meant to tell you that Zerinn was Infinite."

"Save it, Rookie," "Sonic held up a hand not even making eye contact with the red wolf."Look, I know that you just found out that Infinite was your dead former friend. If it were up to me, I would have told Knux not to throw you in the cell, and I don't trust you right now, and it's going to take time to regain that trust."

"Zerinn and I were friends when we were kids, but we had a falling when we were older," Gadget said his voice beginning to crack.

"Sonic, I never meant for you guys to find out like this and is Mikhail okay?"

A commotion answered the wolf's question. Knuckles appeared at the entrance to the cell a small scowl on his face; his brows were furrowed together in anger. The Guardian held a tight grip on Mikhail's upper left arm. Mikhail looked over at Gadget with concerned eyes before Knuckles roughly opened the cell door shoving Mikhail in slamming it shut behind the two brothers.

"So, Gadget you were a spy for Eggman this whole time, then," Knuckles snarled clenching his fists. "I'm willing to bet that you were meeting Infinite in secret and passed on details of our missions. It's a little ironic that he showed up in Mystic Jungle the same time Silver did."

"That's crazy!" Mikhail wrenched his arm free shooting a dark glare at Knuckles. "I was friends with Zerinn as well, though I wasn't as close to him, unlike Gadget. With all due respect, Commander, you have no right to call my brother a spy!"

Silver limped forward into the room. "I'm sorry to hear that you just found out that Infinite was the friend you were looking for," Silver spoke gently in a sympathetic tone."I know that it's a shock for you, but it was the commander's orders."

Chaser, Sahara, Shadow, and Tails came racing into the prison area having heard the commotion along with Team Dark. Shadow eyed Gadget the wolf averted eye contact with the rest of his allies ashamed of making eye contact with any of them.

"Hey, Gadget," Tails said softly. "I know how hard it is for you since your best friend is Infinite. I did try to talk to Knuckles and tell him that you weren't a spy, but he wouldn't listen."

"Commander I'm sorry to interrupt this little Gadget is such a spy thing," Chaser spoke up casting a suspicious glance at Gadget."Everyone needs to come up to the meeting room now. Even the little traitor to as it's an emergency."

Sonic was immediately alert. "What's going on?"

Tails spoke up his face solemn."A few weeks ago Eggman sent out a small scouting party to locate our hideout," Tails said dejectedly. "Eggman's found our base."

"The good doctor's giving us an hour to surrender," Shadow spoke up. "We need to form a plan for our next course of action."

For the first time in three days, the cell door opened, allowing Gadget to be unrestrained as Mikhail drew his younger sibling into a tight embrace.

"Please just stay away from that monster," Mikhail said."I don't want to see you get hurt. Promise me Gadget."

Gadget numbly nodded. The wolf saw the sad and concerned expression in Mikhail's eyes. The wolf felt guilty for putting his older half-brother through all of this.

"I promise, Mikhail."

* * *

The mood in the meeting room was tense. Alarms were blaring out all over Sunset Heights. Most of the Resistance members hurried about the place in a panic. Most of the citizens living in Sunset Heights had already fled not wanting to stick around for Eggman's arrival as the small group stood in the room gazing at the monitors in fear.

The screen displayed several images of a small group of Eggpawns racing through the city, the heavy stomps of the Death Egg Sentinels caused the whole building to shake. One of the mechanical titans engaged a group of several Resistance soldiers and GUN soldiers, most of them firing off several rounds in a futile effort to slow the giant mech down. Some parts of Sunset Heights were already on fire, thick clouds of black smoke rising into the air.

In response, the robot rose both of its arms into the air, slamming them down into a smaller group of soldiers valiantly fighting back against it hearing their screams cut short. The Resistance lowered their heads in a gesture of mourning for the sacrifice of some of their fellow members and GUN soldiers' attempt to stall Eggman's mechanical army from advancing further into Sunset Heights.

"It's no use," Silver raised his voice above the small din. "We can't endanger all of these lives. We have to retreat. Find another haven one that Eggman has no idea where it is so we can live to fight another day."

"I agree with Silver, there's no shame in retreating for now," Espio spoke up above the muttering of the crowd. "There's no point in throwing away our lives in a battle that we're not going to win."

"Where can we go?" Amy asked. "Eggman has eighty-five percent of the world under his control and is there anywhere else safe we hide?"

Knuckles felt his jaw grow tense. Ever since the news that Eggman was attacking their home base, coupled with the growing unease of the Resistance members and the lack of hiding places on Mobius. There was no way that he would ever offer up Angel Island as a base.

I can't. Angel Island is not a tourist destination. Knuckles thought to himself. There's no way that I'm endangering the Master Emerald. I can't run that risk.

"There is only one option we have left," Tails called out. "Angel Island. I'm sorry Knuckles, but it's the only safe place left, and we're running out of time."

"No there's no way!" Knuckles' shout echoed throughout the base. The guardian stood there; his fists lowered his face twisted with anger. The Guardian was prepared to fight to protect the Master Emerald. The thought of so many unknown Mobians all over his island unnerved him. Then there was Rouge, the master thief already stole the Master Emerald once before, who was to say that she wouldn't do it again?

"Knuckles, I hate to say it, but Tails is right," Amy spoke softly, keeping her voice low not to anger the irate guardian any further. "I know that you don't like it either, but this is a desperate situation and how can we reclaim Mobius if we're all in Eggman's clutches?"

Knuckles breathed heavily, shaking his head from side to side in a defiantly. It was too big of a risk. The guardian felt trapped between two impossible decisions. Neither of them had an outcome Knuckles preferred. The first one was to stay here and fight back against Eggman's forces with the risk of getting captured in the process. The second option was to have all of these strangers on Angel Island.

"Oh, come on sweetie, I'm sure that precious gem will be protected by all of us," Rouge spoke up with a small coy smile on her face."Besides Eggman is going to go after the Master Emerald sooner or later. You know that Knuckles."

"Look Knuckles. once this whole war's over we'll all leave Angel Island and go back to our homes," Sonic raised his voice above the crowd."Besides, we can all help keep a watch on the Master Emerald since you know Eggman's going to target it sooner or later and we'll make sure that Rouge won't steal it."

Sonic's words were some form of temporary reassurance hearing the spy snap her fingers in disappointment.

Knuckles sighed in irritation pinching his temples. There was no way that he could disagree now. Not with all of these people whose depended on his next decision. Knuckles sighed knowing he couldn't put anyone else's lives at risk.

"Okay, fine," Knuckles turned on his heel. "The Chaotix, Amy, Tails, and Silver I want you to escort everyone in this building out of here and head in the direction of Angel Island. Silver will show you the way. Sonic, Gadget, Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Mikhail, Sahara and Chaser are with me. We'll stall Eggman to give you guys enough time to escape."

The plan was set in motion as Vector and Amy began to call out to the Resistance members as Shadow tossed Sonic the white Chaos Emerald the weight of the gem landing in Sonic's palm.

"Once, we've given them enough time to escape. We'll use Chaos control to get our group to Angel Island," Shadow said turning on his heel. Let's get this over with."

The small group nodded, making their way out of the base past the wilting golden flowers resting in their flower pots making their way out to confront Eggman.

* * *

Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Gadget, Mikhail, Chaser and Sahara raced out of the bunker's entrance before breaking off into several smaller groups. The Egg mobile had a large black rectangular shaped object hanging underneath it. Eggman slowly lowered the container to the ground detaching it from the bottom of the Egg Mobile a grin forming on the mad scientist's face.

"I've got a bad feeling about what's in that container."

Chaser broke into a run, clutching a Hover Wispon. The coyote pressing a button several small blasts of air tore through the line of robots the small group broke away as Gadget ran alongside with Mikhail. The wolf knew he would have to earn back the trust of the Resistance, and he was thankful that Infinite didn't appear to be here.

"Eggman's robots must be decimated!" Omega cried out the hail of bullets tore through the robots. Sahara ducked down behind some debris with Gadget and Mikhail. Mikhail crouched down low a small frown on his face pressing his brother down to the ground gently to avoid the hail of bullets.

"Holy Chaos, that robot's going to get us killed," Mikhail muttered. "I'm glad that we're not his targets."

"Gah, I'm glad that such a destructive robot is on our side," Sahara replied, worry lining her voice at the thought of the slight scrapes everyone was bound to get. "Chaser's doing well. Gadget, do you and Mikhail think that you can clear a way through for the rest of the citizens to escape?"

"Of, course Sahara," Gadget smiled nodding at his older half-brother. The two of them nodded at each other, breaking into a run ran out heading towards the robots. Gadget activated his grappling hook slamming into the robots as all four of them worked together to clear the area free of robots hearing the cheers of the few residents who hadn't yet evacuated.

Sahara waited for Omega's hail of bullets to cease before she darted out, swinging her Lightning Wisp from side to side in a full arc of electricity taking down the approaching Egg Pawns effortlessly.

"I'll get these people out of here," Gadget said. "Chaser can you, and the others can handle it?"

"Just, get those citizens out of here!" Chaser called back impatience in his voice. "Besides, I used to be a mercenary, so this is a cakewalk for me."

Gadget nodded breaking into a run heading towards the citizens his heart pounding in his chest. Gadget knew that he was no longer the scared wolf he was when he first joined the Resistance. He felt more brave and confident than he ever did before even if he had to reclaim the Resistance's trust.

Knuckles grinned punching several robots as Sonic homing attacked several more robots with Rouge drill kicking her way through several flappers sending a hail of parts raining down to the ground.

"Chaos Spear!"

The several bolts of yellow energy tore through several of the last few remaining robots leaving their parts scattered on the ground. Several minutes had passed since the members of the Resistance worked together as a team to take down Eggman's mechanical army.

"It's odd," Shadow spoke up, looking over at the destroyed robot parts. "Eggman would've sent a much larger force of his robots. Something's wrong."

"Oh, you worry too much, Shadow," Rouge interjected. "Eggman's bound to have something up his sleeve."

Suddenly the silence was broken with an electronic ringing as a wave of red energy washed through the area. Sunset Heights vanished to be replaced with a single extended red platform stretching from underneath the heroes' feet. Sonic froze, looking around at the giant pair of pillars that were attached to the platform, and the Egg Mobile descended from the sky.

Eggman sat in the cockpit of the Egg mobile that was vastly different. Eggman grinned ducking down into the cockpit a small red hatch passed overhead at the top of the cockpit closing shut. Several sharp spikes passed through the top of the cockpit a pair of giant arms were hanging down from both sides of the Egg Mobile covered in sharp spikes.

"No way, that's the Big Arms," Sonic said fear was lacing his voice. "I thought that I trashed one of Egg Face's favorite mechs to pieces all back when he attempted to steal the Master Emerald."

Memories of being clamped by the giant robotic pair of hands squeezing tightly around Sonic's ribs. The force of the impact of being slammed into the hard metallic surface of the robust platform and Eggman's cruel laughter echoing off the area a twisted, maniacal sound that still sent chills down Sonic's spine to this day.

"No way, this can't be real," Sonic breathed peering over the edge of the platform looking down at the dark grey stormy expanse beneath his feet. "You're, playing more mind games with us."

"Oh, believe me, Sonic, it's real," Eggman grinned savoring the moment. "Oh, and Shadow I brought along some old friends for quite the reunion. They've missed you Shadow."

"What, are you talking about, Doctor?"

"Oh, you know what the fat man's talking about," Quartz spoke with venom laced in his words."You killed half of our family and leader. "Now it's your turn to pay the price."

On top of the Big Arms, three jackals hung of the vehicle their black fur blending in with the darkness as they jumped off, landing on the ground with Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys glaring at Shadow their tails twitching each of them had a pendant with a shard of a magenta gem attached to it.

Around the arena, the low peal of thunder echoed in the distance. The members of the Resistance were stranded on a red platform with Eggman grinning at them menacingly with three angry jackals poised ready to strike while all around them the high-velocity winds tore all around them.

* * *

" _None of this is good Vector, that's why it's called war."_

 _Disclaimer I don't own anything._

 _Author's note. Well then that was a whirlwind of a chapter, and this was a tough one to write. There was a lot of action going on and with some character interactions. This chapter turned out to be longer then I expected so I've split up into two parts._

 _Also for those who may get confused about the whole Gadget accused of a spy. What happened is that when they arrived back to the bunker Silver told Knuckles that Gadget knew Infinite before the war, which has led to a lot of people jumping the gun and coming to the wrong conclusion about Gadget. It's mostly the reason that Gadget is being treated with hostility by most members of the Resistance._

 _Right from the start, I knew that I wasn't going to use the Egg Dragoon in this story. It was a great boss fight in Unleashed and Generations, but the fight with it in the game was a step downwards, and I wanted to bring in the Big Arms since it's my second favorite fight from Sonic 3 and Knuckles with the Doomsday Zone being my favorite in my opinion._

 _Also Mt. Yuji is the name of the mountain I've given to the location which the last few levels of the game take place in, and it's a homage to Yuji Naka._

 _Now onto the three surviving members of the Jackal Squad. Nephthys, Saber, and Quartz are working with Eggman even if they don't like it. All three of them are angry at Zerinn for good reason since they'are aware that Kaito is still alive and they have a slight grudge against Zerinn since he was the one who decided to work for Eggman leading to the deaths of half of the Jackal Squad._

 _That's all I have to say for now and as per usual thoughts/suggestions and reviews are always welcome and appreciated. There is going to be a slight delay for the next chapter due to me being busy for a couple of days, and I will hopefully have the next chapter up soon._


	19. This is war part 2

_Author's note I'm sorry that this chapter was late, I've been a little busy, and over this last weekend I finally got a chance to work on it, and well it's here at last._

 _As always thank you to all of the people who have faved, followed and viewed this story._

 _Thanks again as usual to YamiChaos 27, TGN, SD321, KeybladeWriter of the Dawn, Alexandria Prime, Guest, SharpDragonKlaw, and bajy. I genuinely appreciate the support._

* * *

 _The clouds of thick, black smoke rose up from several destroyed buildings in Sunset Heights. The setting sun cast its evening rays over the ruined town. In the distance away from the burning city, the Resistance led the mass evacuation._

 _Several G.U.N soldiers fanned out around the perimeter of the group keeping an eye out for any of Eggman's robots giving chase to the group. All of them felt nothing, but terror seizing their hearts at the possibility of Sonic losing to Eggman again. Amy paused, looking back at the distant sight of Sunset Heights. Some parts of the city were ablaze with flames, swarmed with Egg pawns and the Death Egg Sentinels wreaking havoc around the town._

 _The pink hedgehog stared at the destruction her emerald eyes wet with unshed tears. Sunset Heights had been their last haven, and it was now gone. A gentle touch on Amy's left side made her aware of Tails' presence._

 _"We need to keep moving," Tails said sadly his voice trembling with emotion. The young fox looked back over the devastation."If we don't flee then, Eggman will have won. Sonic's not going to lose to Eggman this time. Shortly, after the war started, I parked the Tornado in a small bunker near Angel Island. I'm going to use it to ferry the citizens and us to Angel Island, by taking a few citizens at a time."_

 _"I know that, but Tails what if we can't win this war?" Amy questioned. "What if Eggman discovers that we're hiding on Angel Island, where can we go then? Also, what are we going to do about the Phantom Ruby?"_

 _Tails didn't answer his mind wandering over the faint possibility that if Eggman discovered where the Resistance had fled, then it indeed would be all over for the Resistance's fight to reclaim their home once and for all._

 _"Kaito did say that the Phantom Ruby, was able to create illusions, so there has to be a way to counter it," Tails replied a determined expression was creeping on the fox's face. The crowd parted around them slightly. "The Phantom Ruby must have a weakness; we just haven't found it yet."_

 _Amy looked back noticing that there was one member of the resistance that was missing. Kaito, When Silver informed Knuckles, that Kaito was Infinite's younger half-brother and the news of Kaito's capture frustrated Knuckles since the guardian wanted to interrogate Kaito thoroughly. To some members of the Resistance Kaito's kidnapping was a blow for their morale. Without Kaito's infectious energy some members of the Resistance lost a little hope._

 _"I sure hope that Kaito's okay," Amy said. "It's typical of Knuckles to jump the gun with Gadget. There's no way that Gadget's a spy."_

 _"I'm sure that Kaito's fine Amy," Tails reassured the pink hedgehog."The important thing is that we need to get these people to safety. Gadget was pretty shocked to find out that Infinite was the friend he thought was dead."_

 _"Hey, you two need to keep up with the group!" Vector yelled back the green crocodile waving his arms. "The Commander said to get everyone out of here and on route to Angel Island!"_

 _Tails cast one last look back at Sunset Heights which once had been their haven was now under siege from Eggman. The fox couldn't explain the cold wind suddenly blowing through his fur. Tails could only hope that it wasn't a bad omen._

 _"Sonic, please don't get captured again."_

 _The peals of thunder echoed out across the dark gray stormy skies. The gale force winds tore across the area buffeting Sonic and Knuckles. The Big Arms rose into the air hovering above Sonic and Knuckles before descending extending both of its arms in a grabbing motion. Sonic ducked down underneath the metallic hands landing a homing attack on the cockpit. Knuckles landed another hit on the Big Arms._

 _"I've forgotten just how persistent both of you were," Eggman growled. "No matter this Big Arms is new and improved!" Eggman cackled._

 _Right on cue, a pair of sharp spikes jutted forth from both of the Big Arm's wrists. Sonic frowned as the Big Arms raised both of its fists slamming down into the ground. The force knocked both Sonic and Knuckles off their feet as it sent one of the jackals colliding into Sonic._

 _Sonic felt the jackal's weight come crashing on top of him as Quartz shot him a hostile look reaching down for the small kunai in between his fingers holding Sonic down with a well-placed foot on Sonic's chest._

 _"You're not Shadow, but you're still an enemy of the doctor," Quartz sneered. "One slash to your throat is all it's going to take to end your life."_

 _Knuckles came running over landing a blow on Quartz's jaw, knocking him away, sending him slamming to the ground._

 _"You're, slipping up Sonic," Knuckles said, offering a hand to Sonic who took it, allowing the guardian to pull him to his feet. "We'll let Team Dark handle those three jackals."_

 _Sonic looked over to see Rouge engaging Nephthys clutching a small dagger between her fingers, avoiding Rouge's kicks lashing out with the small blade between her fingers scoring a hit along the bat's arm who scowled down at Nephthys._

 _"Not bad honey, but you are messing with a spy," Rouge taunted diving down, landing another kick in Nephthys' face who retaliated with several missed slashes with her dagger. "For a mercenary, you're unskilled. Are you sure that you're one of the best mercenaries out there?"_

 _"Oh, now there's a challenge," Nephthys replied with a scowl on her face. "I'll show you why the Jackal Squad is one of the best mercenary Squads in all of Mobius; you winged rat."_

 _Saber ducked out range from the hail of machine bullets ears pinned against his head, holding his tomahawk out in front of him to deflecting the bullets._

 _"Subject is stronger than most of the other targets," Omega intoned. "All obstacles must be eliminated to get to Eggman!"_

 _Saber crouched down low hiding behind the thick tomahawk the ghost of a smile gracing his face. The shortest member of the Jackal Squad grimaced feeling the impact of the bullets pinging off the metallic blade shielding Saber from harm._

 _"Your, style of attack is reckless," Saber said. "I'll tear you apart to make sure that you won't endanger anyone else!"_

 _Quartz and Shadow paced around each other in a tense circle. Shadow observed the jackal's movements. Quartz clutched several kunai in his hands before he smirked snapping his fingers together, brushing along his Phantom Ruby shard as several red ruby kunai appeared before him._

 _Shadow grimaced seeing the ruby knives pointed at him regarding the sadistic grin on Quartz's face._

 _"You're, going to suffer monster," Quartz hissed with a flick of his wrist the ruby kunai were hurled in Shadow's direction, the Ultimate Lifeform leaping out of the way. "You're going to pay for the deaths of Fenrir, Hela, Iris, Roscoe, Blade and our leader Zerinn. I want you to suffer."_

 _Shadow dodged the hail of ruby knives his lips fixed in a slight sneer._

 _"Your leader is still alive," Shadow rebuked. "He's now known as Infinite and is helping the doctor destroy this world."_

 _"You're lying," Quartz sneered his brows tightening into a deep furrow. "That idiot got himself killed, in pursuit of power. I can see why he went for this gem, but he was still an embarrassment as a leader."_

 _Shadow held up the Chaos Emerald drawing on its energy._

 _"Chaos Spear!"_

 _The yellow bolts of energy tore through the air towards Quartz who merely smirked, holding up his fragment of the Phantom Ruby the shard. The gem fragment glowed once canceling out the Chaos Spears. Quartz grinned, seeing the look of disbelief on Shadow's face._

 _"How, did you do that?"_

 _"Ah, now that's a trade secret," Quartz smugly replied._

 _Shadow glared at Quartz before the two of them engaged each other once more in combat. Meanwhile, Sonic and Knuckles continued their attack on the Big Arms._

 _"You know Sonic; I'm going to miss our little battles once this war's over, you know," Eggman taunted turning the Big Arms around for another assault. "With that, my glorious Eggman Empire is on the verge of rising from the ashes of this boring old world."_

 _"Oh please, that's what you say every time Eggy," Sonic retorted. "I've lost track of how many times you've said something like, oh the Eggman Empire will soon rise. Just give it up, Eggman."_

 _Knuckles took a running leap slamming into the cockpit jostling Eggman inside of it, knocking him around as he recovered from the blow._

 _"Oh, no matter how many times you pathetic fools resist the bigger picture to your demise will be the same," Eggman said with a sullen tone. "I'm going to crush you and your pathetic Resistance sooner or later."_

 _"There's' no way that'll ever happen!" Sonic and Knuckles avoided the blows raining down from the Big Arms leaping up onto the arms leaping at the cockpit slamming into it with all of their might with Knuckles punching one side of it and Sonic homing attacking the other._

 _"Oh no, you don't!"_

 _Cold mechanical fingers grasped Sonic tightly around his waist squeezing tightly. Sonic let out a choking gasp of pain. The hedgehog was dimly aware of Knuckle's shout of panic. Eggman grinned, beginning to tighten his grip. Sonic winced, feeling the intense pressure placed on his ribs. The bones were starting to crack from the force of the robotic hands' grip._

 _"Farewell Sonic, I will miss our battles," Eggman said sullenly. "As the good saying goes, all good things have to come to an end."_

 _Sonic dimly aware of Knuckles attacking the Big Arms with a yell. Sonic was thrown forward the metallic fingers loosening their hold on him. The wind whipped past his ears Sonic was catapulted towards the edge of the platform his hand desperately reaching out to grab the side of the platform in one last effort to stop him from falling to his death._

 _Much to the hedgehog's relief, his fingertips grasped the edge of the platform hanging on for dear life with the distant boom of the thunder in the distance when a shadow fell over him the Big Arms hovering over the stricken hedgehog with Eggman leering down at him the broad smile never leaving his face._

 _"It's the end of the line Sonic," Eggman taunted taking glee in Sonic's predicament. "I do, have one last question for you. Who's going to save you now?"_

 _"What are they doing?"_

 _Chaser's question caught Gadget by surprise. On the outside, of the battle, he saw Eggman shooting up into the sky holding Sonic and Gadget heard his pointing hair and his heart sank at the sight of three black jackals racing around Shadow, Rouge and Omega and Gadget heard Mikhail exhale in a gasp of shock a hand to his mouth._

 _"Gadget down there!" Mikhail's shout caught his half sibling's attention. "Aren't those Quartz, Saber and Nephthys?"_

 _Gadget's heart pounded looking down at the three jackals. The wolf couldn't believe his eyes. Not only had Kaito and Zerinn survived Shadow's attack. Nephthys, Saber, and Quartz also survived. Gadget didn't know why three members of his adoptive family that were fighting on Eggman's side._

 _"I thought, you told me that Shadow took out all of our adoptive family," Mikhail whispered. "I guess that Fenrir, Hela, Blade Roscoe and Iris are dead for real then."_

 _Gadget felt the bitter sting of unshed tears of grief in his eyes. The wolf recalled his conversation with his half-brother shortly aboard the space shuttle after the events of rescuing Sonic breaking the news that all the members of their family except Kaito were dead. The wolf felt his fingers brush against the Phantom Ruby prototype._

 _"Gadget, you still know that Knuckles is going to want to speak to you after this is over."_

 _Gadget clenched his jaw. Shara was the one who'd spoken. The coyote and maned wolf looked over at the destroyed robots lying on the ground as Orbot and Cubot were guarding the large container on the ground._

 _"That's fine, with me," Gadget grasped the ruby. "I've lost most of my friends in this war, and I have nothing left to lose."_

 _Gadget broke into a run before anyone could stop him. The young wolf jumped into the air holding up the Phantom Ruby Prototype the gem glowed as the red wave of energy swept over the field distilling the illusion as Knuckles looked up, seeing the giant pillars vanish as Sonic let go the edge of the platform landing face first onto the ground._

 _"What the heck just happened?"_

 _Sonic quickly recovered from his face plant breaking into a run across the square making a beeline for Eggman curling up landing several homing attacks in a row severing the cables connecting vital parts in the wiring hearing the loud snap the disconnecting arm made crashing to the ground._

 _Sonic made short work of the other arm leaping up into the air one last time homing attacking the mech sending it crashing to the ground. The damaged Eggmobile skidded across the surface coming to a stop. Upon seeing the Big Arms come crashing down Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys reluctantly broke away from their battle with Team Dark to run over to where Eggman was pushing himself back in the seat of the Egg mobile forcing it into the air._

 _"Quartz, Saber, Nephthys!"_

 _Mikhail and Gadget hurried over standing next to Sonic, and Team Dark as the wolf saw expressions of shock appearing on the faces of the three jackals._

 _"I'm, going to wager a guess," Knuckles said curtly. "You thought that these guys were dead too?"_

 _"Yes, we both did Commander," Mikhail said fiercely holding his arms in a protective gesture between himself and Gadget. "We're, not traitors nor are we spies. We honestly thought they were dead."_

 _"Why are you guys working for Eggman?" Gadget cried out betrayal palpable in his voice. "Have you seen the damage that Eggman and Zerinn have done to this world?"_

 _Quartz lowered his ears as Nephthys fiddled with the edge of her gloves not wanting to make eye contact with Gadget and Mikhail. The silence hung between the two parties for a few tense minutes._

 _"Zerinn is dead Gadget," Saber replied. "Eggman, saved us from the brink of death after Shadow nearly ended our lives and we are repaying him for his actions. He gave us the power to help us take our revenge on Shadow. It was either join Eggman or become something else. I don't agree with the doctor's methods, but if it changes this world, then so be it."_

 _"No, he's not," Gadget replied. "Shadow is telling the truth, Zerinn is Infinite."_

 _Again the three jackals fell silent. Gadget saw Quartz's jaw tighten. They didn't believe him at all. "If, you choose to be our enemy, then so be it." Saber said at last._

 _Sonic turned his attention away from Gadget emerald eyes meeting Eggman's._

 _"All right Eggy, it's clear that you're going to lose this war sooner or later."_

 _"Oh, I'm far from having lost this war Sonic," Eggman leaned forward in the Eggmobile. "The end of the Resistance is a mere three days away until the final stage of my plan comes into fruition. It is an emotional moment, knowing this will be the last time I get to play with you like this."_

 _"What plan?" Sonic asked, suspicion creeping into his voice. "We're, still going to rescue the prisoners on the Death Egg. No one is going to get left behind."_

 _"About those prisoners, Sonic, well, I'll let you see for yourself."_

 _In response, Eggman silently raised a pair of fingers snapping them. With a loud hiss, the door to the container slowly began to rise upwards the sound of robotic feet echoed off the hard floor. Shadow noticed the three jackals looked away unable to make eye contact with anyone. Sonic felt his blood grow cold. Sahara held her hands in front of her mouth, eyes wide with shock._

 _"You, monster."_

 _One by one silently a group of robotic Mobians stepped from out of the container standing to attention. Without a doubt, these were the prisoners the Resistance failed to rescue from the Death Egg. Eggman smirked at the Resistance gauging their reactions to the robotized prisoners. They looked like normal Mobians except for being covered with a metallic plating over their bodies._

 _"Sensors are picking up data. Eggman has subjected citizens the robotomy process," Omega said. "Attacking citizens is a logical course of actions since they are Eggman's robots."_

 _Omega began to raise his arms pointing them at the citizens as Rouge darted forward placing a hand on Omega's arm yanking it out of the way as several bullets were striking the nearest wall leaving small marks on the walls from Omega's attack._

 _"Omega, no we can't," Rouge breathed out in a panic. "They may be robots, but they're still Mobians!"_

 _"Rouge, your logic doesn't make sense," Omega replied."They fall under the category of Eggman's' robots, and thus they must be eliminated."_

 _Sonic began to shake with rage. His gaze zeroed in on the line of robotic Mobians and then at the broad sadistic smile on Eggman's face with his arms folded across his chest._

 _"You've crossed the line this time Ivo," Sonic snarled in anger his teeth gritted. "We're going to make you pay for what you've done to those prisoners!"_

 _"Ivo? Oh, well now that's a name that I haven't heard in a long time," Eggman said smirking. "So, you finally realize that you've lost and I've won. I'll find the rest of the Resistance soon. Jackal Squad and my metal Mobian army seize them!"_

 _The three jackals broke into a run with the army right behind him. Sonic clenched his fist. One day he was going to make Eggman pay for all of the harm that he'd done. Sonic reached into his quills withdrawing the Chaos Emerald from its hiding place._

 _"Are you ready Shad?"_

 _"Hmph, I could ask you the same thing faker."_

 _Both Sonic and Shadow raised the Chaos Emeralds into the air. Gadget looked down at the Phantom Ruby prototype in his hand noticing the gem was dim once more._

 _"Chaos Control!"_

 _In a bright flash, the Resistance members vanished, leaving Eggman's army to shield their eyes from the bright light. When Eggman's army could see again, the Resistance was gone._

 _"Shall, I send an order to Metal Sonic to locate their new hiding place boss?" Orbot asked._

 _"No that won't be necessary. I need Metal Sonic to remain in Metropolis," Eggman replied calmly stroking his mustache savoring his victory. "Besides, we've claimed Sunset Heights for ourselves. We can set up a new base here."_

 _Meanwhile, on Angel Island night had fallen as Tails and Amy stood not too far away from the Tornado. All of the Resistance members and citizens had found a place to rest as both of Sonic's closest friends anxiously awaited their allies return. A flash of light deposited Sonic, Shadow, and their passengers onto the soft grass. Both Sonic and Shadow keeled over from exhaustion the sweet-smelling grass was a relief to Sonic, but it did nothing to shake the despair from the hedgehog's heart._

 _"Sonic!"_

 _Tails and Amy came running over to where Sonic was helping him up to his feet. Sonic stood a bit uneasily on his feet. Amy right away noticed the way that Sonic was trembling with emotion._

 _"Sonic are you okay?" Amy asked reaching out for Sonic's shoulder in concern. "If it's about the prisoners that are still on the Death Egg, there's always a chance we can rescue them."_

 _"No, Amy it's too late for them," Sonic said sorrow was pouring into his voice. "Eggman's already subjected them to the roboticization process."_

 _Sonic's words left both Tails, and Amy horrified as Sonic sank to his knees his head bowed to the ground with Tails and Amy coming over to hug Sonic as he hugged them both back._

 _Gadget looked over at Sonic in concern. Chaser, Mikhail, and Sahara slowly got to their feet wincing slightly. Shadow, Rouge, and Omega stood in silence, watching Tails, and Amy gently hug Sonic in quiet comfort._

 _"Gadget," Knuckles breathed out."I just wanted to say I'm sorry for jumping the gun and accusing you of being a traitor and I'll be sure to let everyone know that you weren't a spy. I don't know what you did to the Big Arms, but it got us out of a jam. Your adoptive family is the enemy now."_

 _"Apology accepted Commander," Gadget said reaching down to his side slowly withdrawing the Prototype. "To prove my loyalty to the Resistance, I have something to show you."_

 _Gadget felt the sting of the betrayal of his family as Sonic gave him a gentle squeeze on the shoulder._

 _"I'm sorry, about your friends Gadget," Sonic said tiredly. "We're friends now, and we'll help you any way we can."_

 _"Thank you Sonic," Gadget said touched by Sonic's compassion as he withdrew the Phantom Ruby Prototype. "I found this in the Mystic Jungle when Sonic was fighting Infinite. I think that it could be related to to the Phantom Ruby."_

 _Knuckles looked down at the Phantom Ruby as Tails' gaze zeroed in on it. Sonic looked down at it a look of shock appearing on his face._

 _"You know, it does look like the gem that's in Infinite's chest," Sonic said._

 _"It does bear a resemblance to the Phantom Ruby," Tails muttered. "I do have a lab in the Mystic Ruins, where we can go examine it."_

 _"That's great Tails," Sonic forced a smile on his face. "If we can unravel the mystery behind the Phantom Ruby, then we might have a chance of winning this war."_

 _"We still need to tell everyone else about the Doctor's next move," Shadow stated tiredly walking away with Rouge and Omega following behind him."According to Eggman, he plans to wipe all of us out within the next three days."_

 _The rest of the group followed Team Dark with Sonic looking back. The hedgehog had a slightly troubled expression on his face, and the fate of the prisoners they failed to save on the Death Egg would weigh heavily on Sonic's mind for a long time._

 _Knuckles hung back looking over the edge of Angel Island, the wind playing with his dreadlocks. It was clear to the Guardian that with having lost Sunset Heights to Eggman, he was still uneasy with the prospect of having so many Mobians on it and so close to the Master Emerald. Knuckles saw the small hungry look in Rouge's eyes and the small coy smile on her face at the thought of being left alone with the Master Emerald._

 _"Don't even think about touching the Master Emerald batgirl."_

 _"Why Knuckles I'm hurt," Rouge said with a low sigh." You're accusing a lady like me. I can't even give a little tap against that beautiful emerald?"_

 _"No, not even a little tap," Knuckles said fiercely raising his fists threateningly. "If you do, I'll throw you off Angel Island myself."_

 _"Fine, I guess that you can't handle a joke," Rouge replied. The bat looked over at the guardian standing to overlook the edge of Angel Island the tense frown on his face. "Knuckles look sweetie I know things are bad right now, and I'm sure that we'll win in the end."_

 _Knuckles looked over warily at Rouge the soy stood next to Knuckles in silence. The gentle winds blew around them both. The silence between them lasted for a few moments._

 _"I'm beginning to put a plan together," Knuckles said to Rouge. The spy looked at Knuckles' eyebrow slightly raised. "It's the one chance we have to end this war quickly."_

 _"So what is this plan that you have in mind?"_

 _"I call it Operation Big Wave," Knuckles grinned."We're going to launch an attack on Metropolis and capture Eggman, putting an end to this war and getting our home back."_

 _This plan will work. Knuckles vowed to himself. We'll win this war and get our home back._

* * *

 _Author's Note._

 _Things continue to go from bad to worse for the Resistance with no light at the end of the tunnel._

 _The draft of this chapter was started on Saturday and editing on it finished this past Monday._

 _This chapter was a tornado of events full of deep and intense things going on since if you remember Kaito's line about roboticization all the way back in the first chapter. It was an idea I've planned for since the beginning, and now it's come to fruition which raises the stakes for the Resistance._

 _For those of you wondering why Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys are working reluctantly with Eggman. It's because they believe that Zerinn is dead and Eggman has saved their lives. Saber is the defacto leader of the Jackal Squad. Even though Shadow killed half the members of the Jackal Squad, they partially blame Zerinn for the deaths of their squad mates since he decided to join Eggman due to being tempted by the power of the Phantom Ruby._

 _As per usual constructive criticism, opinions and reviews will be appreciated and welcomed._

 _Also here's a question of the day for you guys. What did you think of the new Crush 40 Song heard in Team Sonic Racing?_


	20. Refuge in the sky

**Author's note.**

 _I'm sorry that these last couple of chapters were late, life has been hectic lately, and I'm genuinely sorry for keeping you waiting like this. I can't believe that this story has over 25 favorites thank you all so much. As always, a special thank you to all of the people who have Favorited and followed this story. You guys keep me motivated to keep going, and I genuinely appreciate the support._

 _A big thank you to Ryo551 for leaving a favorite on the story._

 _As always, a big thank you to Pyrien, AlexandriaPrime, TheGameNGuyener, SpiderDom321, KeybladeWriter of the Dawn, YamiChaos27, bajy, SharpDragonKlaw, and Guest. If it weren't for your support, this story wouldn't be where it is today. I genuinely appreciate your feedback._

 _Anyway, without further delay, let's dive on into chapter 20 and to any Kaito fans, I apologize in advance for this chapter._

* * *

Countdown to Eggman's plan 68 hours remain.

Knuckles and Rouge made their way back from the edge of Angel Island over to Mushroom Hill Zone where most of the Resistance made their way towards a large clearing far away from the entrance to the Hidden Palace Zone settling down for the night. Most of the Resistance was fast asleep as Gadget and Mikhail lay together on the same bed for warmth as a pair of vine hammocks had been set up for Sonic and Tails as Sonic allowed Tails to have the top one as he'd taken the bottom.

Knuckles couldn't shake the anxiety building up in him. Eggman's forces had caused the Resistance to flee from Sunset Heights. Losing their base left most of the Resistance despondent. Knuckles made his way through the small crowd of Mobians settling down on their makeshift beds in Mushroom hill some of them settling in for an uneasy sleep.

"We shouldn't be resting like this," Knuckles muttered pacing back and forth. "We're wasting time ever since we've lost Sunset Heights. We have to stop Eggman's plan no matter what."

"I received a message, from the Gun Commander," Rouge said. "He wants to bring this war to an end, and he's offered GUN's support to help us end, this war and stop Eggman for good."

"That's great," the Guardian replied. "At this point, we'll need all the help we can get."

Knuckles turned around in anger with a yell slamming a fist onto the ground, leaving a small crater in the middle of the earth.

"We've failed them, Rouge."

Knuckles gritted his teeth in anger at the memory. The blank eyes on the robotic Mobian's faces would haunt him until his dying day. Rouge let a gentle hand rest on his shoulder. For once the bat didn't have a sly, teasing, look on her face. It was more of a sympathetic expression on her face. The two of them stood in silence until Rouge exhaled softly.

"You say that handsome, but you do know that Sonic's pulled off the impossible before," Rouge said softly. "Didn't you two have a rough start when you guys first met?"

"We did," Knuckles replied. "It was such a long time ago. When I was more naïve."

It felt like yesterday ever since Knuckles had crossed paths with Sonic for the first time and Knuckles bitterly recalled wanting to kick himself for believing Eggman's no Robotnik's as the mad scientist was known back then for his lies.

"There was a mural in the Hidden Palace that showed an image of a hedgehog chasing down a human figure holding an Emerald," Knuckles said. "I should've known that mural was foretelling that Sonic and Eggman would come to Angel Island, and that fight played out on the mural."

Rouge fell silent. There were sounds of someone awkwardly walking through the dense foliage. Sonic walked through the landscape his mouth open in a content yawn.

"Well, you two sure do look cozy together," There was a small teasing smile on the hedgehog's face. "There's nothing, like a good nap after using Chaos Control to warp everyone in the Resistance to Angel Island. At least they are safe, and Eggman won't be able to turn anyone else into robots."

Despite the small annoying smirk on Sonic's face, behind the jade eyes, there was an aura of exhaustion surrounding Sonic. The hedgehog was tense, and his lip curled ever so slightly at the mention of Eggman turning the prisoners into his mechanical slaves. Sonic seemed determined to distract himself from the horror of how far Eggman was willing to go to enslave everyone on Mobius.

"It's not like that!" Knuckles rebuked angrily. "I was following her around to make sure that she wouldn't make off with any of the Chaos Emeralds. We still need to come up with a way to stop Eggman's plan."

"Tails, Gadget and I are going to head to Tails' workshop in the morning to examine the Phantom Ruby prototype."

Sonic paced back and forth, rubbing at his arms. There bags underneath Sonic's eyes from lack of sleep. Knuckles heard the soft snores coming from Gadget as he began to walk in the direction of Hidden Palace.

"I'm, going to check on the Master Emerald," Knuckles muttered, raising a hand signaling Sonic to follow him who fell into step behind him eager to do so anything to get his mind of the roboticized citizens.

"Oh, can I come along to have a look at it, please?" Rouge asked her ears pricking up. A small coy smile was on her face. "I promise that I won't steal it. Not even a little peek at that beautiful gem?"

"No, you can't. Only my actual friends are allowed to enter the Hidden Palace," Knuckles replied crossing his arms defensively. "That means no jewel thieves allowed."

Rouge pouted folding her ears back against her skull. The bat crossed her arms across her chest sulkily. She let out a low sigh. "Fine, I was going to have a rest, anyway. You two boys have fun doing whatever it is, you're about to do and that I mean looking after that precious gem."

Rouge took off with the sound of her wingbeats fading away into the distance. Knuckles watched her go; his fists still clenched in slight irritation.

"That bat is more trouble than she's worth," Knuckles muttered, turning on his heel walking away into the distance.

"You don't want to admit that you like her," Sonic couldn't resist grinning.

Knuckles rolled his eyes heading in the direction of the Hidden Palace Zone, with Sonic not too far behind him. Sonic followed Knuckles the two of them left Mushroom Hill behind them breaking into a run heading in the direction of the Hidden Palace. What neither Sonic nor Knuckles noticed a confident wily Batgirl following them the small smile never leaving her face.

"Both of you can't get rid of me that easily."

Sonic and Knuckles traveled together the orangish green leaves of the Mushroom Hill Zone gave way as the two of them crossed the vast island coming to the most western part of the island to a sizeable vine-covered cave entrance. Knuckles pulled at the vines revealing the entryway to the Hidden Palace. Knuckles sighed in irritation seeing Rouge landing in front of the opening an amused smile on her face like the bat found something funny about the Guardians' frustration.

"You're not going to give up are you Rouge?" Knuckles asked in exasperation.

"No, I won't. Any precious gem is a prize to be won," Rouge replied smugly. "Look, I promise not to steal it, You'll never know if Eggman's sent any of his forces down there."

Sonic looked at Rouge with a raised eyebrow. "I hate to agree with Rouge but you know she's right Knux," Sonic added in casting a slightly suspicious look at Rouge. "This war's been raging for six months, which I spent most of those months as a prisoner, and Eggman probably sent several Badniks to Angel Island while we were all distracted by the mass evacuation in Sunset Heights."

"Fine, she can come," Knuckles growled in irritation. "I'm keeping a close eye on you Batgirl."

Rouge was amused at how quickly the stubborn Guardian had given into Sonic's logic as the three of them made their way down the cave mouth down the dark staircase descending downwards into the dark abyss. Rogue looked up at the several small crystals that were glowing brilliantly against the roof of the tunnel illuminating the dark tunnel heading into the deepest parts of the island. The walk felt like forever as Knuckles pushed against a pair of emerald green doors allowing light to spill into the large room.

Knuckles, Sonic and Rouge, stepped into a massive cavern lined with green tiles with murals decorated along the walls. There were carved statues all along the room mostly in the shape of echidnas, some of them had patches of ivy crawling over them. Rouge felt her gaze drawn to several large beds of crystals that were all situated around the giant green Emerald nestled in its bed of crystals. There was a quiet beauty to the enormous cavern; no one had any idea that this was down here.

"Well, this a trip down memory lane," Sonic said, walking towards the first of the Gray emeralds resting his hands against the smooth gray surface. Upon closer inspection, Rouge noticed several cracks along the flat surface of the jewels.

"What are they?" Rouge asked, walking closer, reaching out to touch one ignoring Knuckle's dark glare seeing his fist clench slightly.

"Those are the Super Emeralds when Knuckles and I first met, Eggman who was known as Robotnik back then tricked Knuckles into believing that Tails and I were the bad guys," Sonic said. "Eventually Eggman betrayed Knuckles and stole the Master Emerald. Tails and I gave chase all the way to Eggman's Death Egg, and I drew on the power of the Super Emeralds, battled Eggman and won, saving the day and stopping Robuttnik once more."

Sonic patted the surface of the gray emerald. "I drained all of their power, which is why they're like this," Sonic said sullenly. "It's a shame because they would be useful in a crisis like this."

Knuckles ignored them heading to the giant green emerald still resting on its pedestal resting a hand against the smooth surface. It was still safe. Eggman hadn't attempted to steal the giant Emerald, but he couldn't shake the feeling that Eggman would try to take it sooner or later.

"The Super Emeralds are nothing more than dead stones," Knuckles called back. "You can go ahead and steal those. They wouldn't be worth anything."

"My so you were tricked by Eggman?" Rouge asked a small hint of mischief creeping into her voice.

"Until I met Eggman, I grew up alone on this island, and he was the very first person I'd met," Knuckles said. "I would've won that fight here in the Hidden Palace if Eggman hadn't interfered.

"I don't know, that was a good butt kicking I gave you," Sonic replied with a small chuckle. "We both know that I won it fairly, and it was payback for when you nearly got Tails, and I killed with your traps, and you used to chuckle a lot back in the day."

"I wouldn't mind hearing you chuckle sometime Knuckles."

"We need to head back," Knuckles abruptly said."It's clear that none of Eggman's Badniks are down here and we need to prepare for Operation Big Wave."

The trio left the Master Emerald Chamber as Knuckles hung back, allowing Rouge and Sonic to go ahead of him looking back at the Master Emerald with a silent pleading expression on his face. Knuckles couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. The giant emerald was intact, but Chaos was still out there, aiding Eggman in his conquest of the world.

Master Emerald, please, we're losing this war. Tikal, if you're there, please send me a sign. Knuckles silently willed the Emerald hoping for an answer. The echidna felt no response from the giant Emerald as he sighed in dejection heading up the long passageway back to Angel Island.

The doors were closed once more sealing off the entrance to the majestic quiet cavern with a final last bang of the doors.

Countdown to Eggman's plan 60 hours remaining.

Gadget stirred feeling the warmth of the sun grace his face as he sat up along with Mikhail, who yawned looking half awake turning to face Gadget. Most of the Resistance members were up and about hurrying towards the clearing with Chaser and Sahara among them.

"Morning bro," Mikhail yawned again standing up noticing that most of the Resistance members were already up. "Seeing all of those robot Mobians, and with the loss of our main base, I'm trying to be optimistic, but I'm also a realist. Do you think that we can win this war?"

Gadget swallowed nervously at Mikhail's question, his mind wandering back to the last 24 hours ago when they'd lost their main base, no their home and the memory of seeing Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys alive, but fighting on Eggman's side brought nothing, but a stab of pain to the wolf.

"We, won't go down without a fight," Gadget replied. Now wasn't the time to be moping. "This a time to fight back. If we die, we'll go down fighting."

Gadget and Mikhail ran ahead catching up with the crowd, hearing the members of the Resistance gathering around a small stump anxious muttering filled the air.

Knuckles stood on a small stump with the Chaotix, and several GUN soldiers stood on both sides of the stump as he turned to survey the crowd. The small stump was less impressive than the stage the Guardian used in the Resistance base, but it was still a stage.

"There's no doubt that things are looking bad for us," Knuckles called out to the crowd as Sahara kept her hands folded close to her chest. "We've lost Sunset Heights, and Eggman has announced a plan to wipe us all out, in the next three days. However, I've come up with a plan to allow us to fight back."

One of the GUN Soldiers stepped forward with one of the Beetle robots as the monitor screen flickered beneath it showing the GUN Commander's face on it.

"GUN will be lending its support to this joint operation," Commander Towers spoke his tone commanded attention. "We at GUN do want this war to end before we lose any more innocent lives to Eggman's tyrannical reign."

Knuckles knew that he had the crowd's attention. "Tomorrow we're going to launch an attack on Metropolis and claim it for ourselves. I call it Operation Big Wave," Knuckles called out knowing he had the crowd's attention. "Sonic, Tails, and Gadget are going to head to Tails' lab in the Mystic Ruins to analyze the secrets of the Phantom Ruby."

Gadget swallowed nervously holding his hand up high showing the prototype. "I found this in the Mystic Jungle."

There were gasps and muttering all throughout the crowd at the sight of the magenta gem until Tails stepped forward.

"In my lab that's hidden in the Mystic Ruins, I've set up a network of computers over the last six months, and I'm going to hack into Eggman's mainframe at the Chemical Plant from my lab," Tails explained. "Eggman's bound to have files of the Phantom Ruby tucked away in his most secure database."

"If we can just crack the secret of the Phantom Ruby, then we have a chance to win this war," Sonic said. "Even with a plan, I'm sure that Knuckles thought up in a minute and a half."

Knuckles chose to ignore Sonic's comment. "No matter what if this plan succeeds and if we capture Eggman, then we've won!"

The guardian's words ignited a spark of hope in the Resistance. Sonic noticed the skeptical expressions on Silver's and Espio's faces as they exchanged a look with each other that said that things weren't going to end well.

Sonic, Tails, and Gadget walked away from the area heading to the edge of Angel Island where the Tornado was waiting. Knuckles followed the small group. Sonic jumped on top of the wings with Tails, sitting in the pilot's seat with Gadget holding on for dear life at the base of the tail.

"Good luck you guys."

The Tornado rolled over the fields, the propeller springing into life as it took off from Angel Island into the vast blue skies. Gadget looked back at Angel Island before Tails turned the plane to the left heading in the direction of the Mystic Ruins.

Hunger, it was all Kaito felt ever since his capture a little over three days ago at the hands of his half-brother. Kaito's ears twitched hearing the cell door open. Kaito lifted his head, ignoring the bruises on his body from the abuse he'd suffered at the hands of Eggman's robotic forces.

Kaito glared at the rotund figure that made his way into the cell. This monster in front of him had done something to Zerinn, and he reached down for the flamberge withdrawing it. The fragment of the accursed gem pulsed against his chest, sensing its owner's will to fight back.

"So, you're still alive are you?"

"Do, your worst," Kaito wheezed glaring at Eggman. "I'll never talk. You'll never find out where the Resistance's base is."

Eggman burst into maniacal laughter the sound echoing in the room. "It's too late for a bold statement like that," Eggman cackled. "I wiped out the Resistance base at Sunset Heights. They're all dead."

Kaito almost fumbled the flamberge in shock. He shook his head not wanting to believe Eggman's words, but the mad human's sinister grin said it all. Something snapped in the jackal's mind. Gadget and Mikhail were dead, along with everyone else in the Resistance. Kaito growled in pure anger, his fingers reaching for his reliable flamberge.

"I'll kill you! I'll make you pay!"

Eggman heard Kaito's yell of anger as the mercenary exploded out of his cell as Eggman bent down, grabbing the jackal quickly by the scruff of his neck, ignoring the curses aimed at him by Kaito. The scientist wasn't alone. With him was Metal Sonic. The robot copy of Sonic had arrived from Metropolis.

"Oh, shut up, you're lucky that I'm not going to kill you," Eggman snarled holding up the jackal at arm's length. "I'm taking you to Metropolis where your brother is waiting for you."

"That monster is not my brother," Kaito growled lifting his head working up a glob of Slavia spitting in Eggman's face. The scientist in response with his other hand grabbed Kaito's left ear pulling on it hard, prompting the jackal to yelp in pain. Eggman continued to tug on Kaito's ear until he let go dropping Kaito who landed on his knees, gasping in pain, tears at the corner of his eyes. Cubot was watching him with a bundle of medical supplies in his arms.

"How did you know that Infinite and I were brothers?"

"A lucky guess," Eggman replied curtly.

Kaito felt his limbs tied up with a thick piece of rope before Eggman rolled the jackal on his back with Eggman bending down his fingers tracing the fragment in his chest. "Both of you have that same expression of defiance in your eyes."

"Uh, boss are you sure that handing this guy over to Infinite is a good idea?" Cubot asked scratching his head. "I don't think that he and Infinite are on good terms at the moment."

"Infinite demanded him as a hostage and that jackal's overstepping his boundaries," Eggman grumbled turning to meet Kaito's gaze. "So then jackal how many times have you tapped into the power of the fragment of the Phantom Ruby on your chest?"

Kaito felt nothing, but dread passing through his body at the question. A heavy tread of footsteps announced Metal Sonic's presence the robot hedgehog came to a stop those red optics glaring coldly down at Kaito.

"Well, if you're not going to use the present that I gave to you," Eggman said. "Well then Metal Sonic, you know what to do."

Metal Sonic approached Kaito, and in one swift movement, his claws stabbed down, scraping against the short fur on Kaito's stomach leaving small trails of blood, wrapping around the fragment. Kaito felt an intense pain coursing through his body, the metallic tips beginning digging into his skin. Kaito's suffering didn't last long as Metal Sonic ripped away the fragment, leaving blood to leak from the open wound.

Kaito let out an anguished scream of pain before he fell unconscious, his head slumping to the ground with blood oozing out of his chest.

"Cubot, pass those gauze pads to me quickly. I just cleaned this floor yesterday," Eggman grumbled. Cubot silently passed the gauze to Eggman who pressed it up against the gaping hole in Kaito's chest. It immediately became saturated with Kaito's blood. "Come on, don't die on me, it was just a little hole."

Eggman worked in silence pressing several, more gauze pads until at last; he stopped the bleeding. The human placed an ear to Kaito's chest, the jackal's heartbeat was weak and fluttering, but he was still alive. Eggman stitched up the small hole, wrapping the chest in bandages picking up the limp jackal in his arms.

"You two, take him to the medical Bay and make sure he gets enough blood to survive," Eggman said, wiping the sweat of his brow handing Kaito off to the two Egg pawns who'd entered the room. "If Infinite asks about Kaito, tell him that he tried to escape, and there was an accident."

The two robots nodded, placing the jackal on a stretcher. Eggman turned his attention to Metal Sonic holding the Phantom Ruby fragment soaked in Kaito's blood between two of his metallic fingers eying it like it was a prize that he'd won.

"I want you to dispose of that fragment. I can trust that Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys won't use their fragments against me, but destroy it on your way back to Metropolis. Is that understood Metal Sonic?"

Metal Sonic made a low series of beeps before he activated his jet engine taking off into the air leaving Eggman far behind. In the air Metal Sonic turned the fragment over an idea forming deep in his processor.

If that rebellious jackal hadn't tapped into the power in this fragment, then Metal Sonic would have to tap into it. The metal doppelgänger of Sonic was looking forward to tapping into the power of the Phantom Ruby fragment in his hand for himself. Metal Sonic beeped once heading in the direction of Metropolis. This time he was determined to end Sonic's life once and for all.

* * *

 _Post chapter Author's note._

 _Don't panic Kaito is not dead. I have no plans to kill him off. He's not having a good time at the moment. Out of the Jackal Squad Kaito used his Phantom Ruby fragment the least since he hated how it corrupted Zerinn, and once Eggman saw Kaito's reluctance to use it, he realized that it was no use in Kaito's hands and he had Metal Sonic remove it._

 _I haven't forgotten about Chaos. I know he's been absent from this fic for a while, but he will be coming back soon._

 _This chapter was mostly a calm before the storm chapter. I know that this chapter was a little lacking in action, but considering the whirlwind of recent events, the Resistance needed a chance to catch their breath. Also, I felt wanted to add in some Sonic and Knuckles interaction since these two haven't had much of an opportunity to interact with each other, so it felt like a good time for them to do so._

 _Some platonic Knuxouge moments is in there cause I love their relationship in canon. These two characters genuinely do have some great chemistry between them. Also, I haven't forgotten about GUN as they will be joining with the Resistance in Operation Big Wave._

 _As per usual constructive criticism/thoughts and reviews will be welcomed and appreciated. I will see you guys with the next update hopefully soon._


	21. Prelude to Operation Big Wave

_Author's note._

 _I'm back guys and girls with a new chapter for you all to hopefully enjoy. This is the last chapter before the main event that is Operation Big Wave as you will not have long to wait for it at all._

 _I have to give a big thank you to Dark Magician Leaf, stephanieeiche10, and nicolepokemon7 for leaving a favorite on this story. I genuinely appreciate the support._

 _As always I have to give a big thank you to The GameNguyener, SpiderDom321, KeybladeWrtier of the dawn, bajy, Supreme Serious, Yami Chaos 27, Pyrein, Alexandria Prime, and Sharp Dragon Klaw. You guys have given me the motivation to keep going on this long story, and we're on the eve of Operation Big Wave, and things are going to get darker from here on out._

 _Well without any more_ _delays I present to you the next chapter._

* * *

Countdown to Eggman's plan 56 hours remain.

Mystic Ruins. The massive tropical rainforest was located just south of Station Square in the deepest parts of the rainforest an ancient temple stood in the center of the rainforest. Lengthy winding trials weaved through the dense undergrowth leading to several Mobians getting lost in the brush, and there were rumors that Big the Cat had made his home in the dense forest. It had also been one of the first places Eggman attacked leaving most of the once peaceful rainforest decimated due to Eggman deciding that there would be no point of adding Mystic Ruins to his ever-expanding list of conquered cities. Several refugee camps had been set up in the thickest part of the forest, hidden from Eggman's grasp of the world.

The Tornado flew over the ocean. The sight of the gray runway came into view as the Tornado came into for a bumpy landing skidding almost of the runaway. Gadget frowned, noticing several Flapper robots flying in low overhead their heads turning from side to side scanning the area for any signs of intruders.

Sonic jumped out of the wings of the Tornado with Tails climbing from out of the cockpit jumping on the rough surface. Gadget looked around spying a small orange building sitting parked not too far away from the runway.

"Ah, there it is, home sweet home," Sonic said, breaking into a run with Tails and Gadget following him as the door swung open with a creak the sun's light spilling into the dark room. Gadget looked around at the two floors; a simple living arrangement had been set up with several pieces of furniture consisting of a small dining table, all the essentials needed for living and a flight of stairs leading up to where Gadget only could assume where the bedroom was.

"Well, this is my home and Sonic stays with me on occasion," Tails said. The lab's through this way," Tails walked through the house coming to a metal door with a small keypad in front of it. The young fox keyed in combination with several small beeps signaling the password input was successful. The door slowly opened as Gadget, Tails, and Sonic stepped into the large lab area. Never before in all of his life Gadget had seen so many computers all along one wall.

The boy genius sat down in the chair, reaching down underneath the desk, pressing the button booting up the computers withdrawing a small device that looked big enough to contain the Phantom Ruby.

"Okay, I've just got to focus on the Chemical Plant's main database server," Tails said. The young genius typed in several keys. Gadget watched the monitor screens. Several security cameras mounted on the wall, no doubt to keep track if there were any intruding robots. With Eggman anything was possible.

"Gadget, do you have the prototype with you?"

"Of course I do," Gadget replied. The wolf reached down into one of his pockets at his utility belt withdrawing the Phantom Ruby handing it over to Tails. Sonic was pacing back and forth in small circles impatiently, the tips of his shoes scuffing on the floor.

"Sonic, if you're just going to pace around impatiently can go outside, and patrol, the area for any of Eggman's robots," Tails replied with a slight hint of irritation in his voice. "Knuckles wanted me to lead a small group for Operation Big Wave."

Sonic's head shot up in surprise at the news. Knuckles had never told the speedster about Tails leading a group for Operation Big Wave. Sonic saw the young fox humming to himself typing in several keys on the keyboard his attention focusing on the computer screen.

"So, which group are you leading?" Sonic asked, fighting to keep his tone even trying not to show a hint of panic.

"Well, it's a small team that is made up of myself, Amy, Rouge, Espio, and Sahara. Our goal is to find the Phantom Ruby's power source if it has one and destroy it," Tails explained not looking up from the computer screen various images flashing by on the computer screen. "That's why hacking into Eggman's database at the Chemical Plant could provide us with some clues to the Phantom Ruby."

The silence fell over the room; Gadget tilted his head, glancing up at the security camera feed, recognizing the shape of Eggman's Egg Mobile hovering over the area. He stretched out his arm the wave of energy radiated from the Phantom Ruby clutched in the Doctor's hand before a blob of water slowly rose up from the ground, standing there looking up at Eggman, the long appendages hanging down at the blob's side as Gadget felt his breath hitch in his throat. The wolf recognized the precisely what stood before Eggman awaiting the mad tyrant's next command.

"I'm in!" Tails' voice distracted Gadget momentarily from the monitor seeing the Eggman Empire's logo flash on the screen and an image of the chemical plant with its infamous purple water and the massive blue pipes with some liquid flowing through them, "All right Tails! I knew that you could do it, little buddy!"

Gadget shifted his attention back to the screen, seeing the Egg Mobile taking off into the air with Chaos turning his attention towards the train station before it dove down heading in the direction of Tails' workshop. Gadget's heart leaped into his mouth. His brain was on autopilot; Gadget leaned forward to tap Sonic on the shoulder.

"Uh, Guys, I hate to interrupt the celebrations, but we've got Chaos incoming," Gadget said. "He's coming in fast."

Sonic turned around spying Chaos making his way towards the workshop. "Ah, of all of the things that could go wrong, we now have to deal with Chaos. Don't worry Tails, Gadget and I can handle this one."

Tails paused, his fingers flying over the keyboard before he came to a stop slowly standing up his fingers clenched ever so slightly. Not too long he'd sat on the sidelines watching Sonic, risk himself over and over again. The memories flashed into Tails' mind one by one. The time when Sonic had lost to Infinite and had become Eggman's prisoner for six months, watching Sonic stumble to his feet, fighting against Zavok. Decision made, Tails clenched his fists with a small, determined frown on his face.

"Gadget, how much do you know about hacking into someone else's server?"

The question caught both Gadget and Sonic by surprise. The silence was tense that you could hear a pin drop until Gadget pushed the bridge of his glasses up his muzzle almost lost for words.

"Yes, I do know a little about hacking into a mainframe," Gadget said slowly caught by surprise. "Why do you ask that question Tails?"

"I'll take this fight with Sonic. I've fought Chaos Zero before," Tails said fiercely clenching his fist. "I'm not going to cower in a corner and beg for someone to save me." Tails replied. "Gadget I'm sure that you can handle it. Just follow the follow the instructions that I've written down for you."

"All right, let's do this Tails," Sonic forced as a smile on his face. "Gadget are you sure that you can handle this?"

"Of course I can," Gadget said confidently. "You two go deal with Chaos, and I can see if I can extract any secrets about the Phantom Ruby."

Sonic and Tails hurried out of the workshop spying Chaos racing towards them The God of Destruction towered above both Sonic and Tails the small droplets of water dripping down all over his body. Chaos took several steps forward before he lashed out with his arms the watery appendages slammed into the ground, ripping up dirt and soil, sending it upwards in a brown sludgy mess the water and soil slammed into Sonic knocking him off his feet.

"Oh, I see he's already playing dirty, then," Sonic said, turning his head to spit out small clods of wet mud. "Well, two can play at that game."

Sonic curled up into a ball homing attack dodging the bursts of water sending droplets of cold water into the air. All of the memories of being submerged by Chaos flashed through Sonic's mind. The sheer terror he'd felt his limbs thrashing struggling to breathe. Sonic shook his head, dismissing those memories noticing like Zavok Chaos was glitching the small red particles dancing along his skin.

"Hey, Chaos!" Sonic called out catching the God of Destruction's attention. "Let's play a game called see if you can catch the hedgehog!"

In answer, Chaos bubbled charging forward into Sonic the hedgehog at breakneck speed submerging Sonic. Sonic thrashed weakly the small bubbles of oxygen escaping his lips. Sonic was now fighting a losing battle to stay alive. He merely lifted a hand to the surface before his fingers grasped uselessly at the water racing into his lungs. The Sonic's lungs burned with the water racing into his throat, lungs, and stomach. Small black spots danced before Sonic's eyes. Sonic made one last feeble struggle to break through Chaos' appendages to feel the life-giving oxygen race into his lungs.

"Sonic!"

Suddenly he felt Chaos stiffen jerking back his arms swinging at Tails who hovered just out of reach. The watery arm vanished around Sonic letting out a deep gasp of oxygen landed on his stomach on the hard ground. From the corner of his eye, he made out the shape of the Egg Mobile speeding away into the distance. Sonic gagged vomiting up the water feeling Tails deliver a slap to his back below two of his spines helping him drive out more water out of his lungs the blue liquid that was soon absorbed by the ground.

"Sonic, are you okay?"

Sonic turned his head to see Tails looking at him with concern in his eyes. The hedgehog let out one last cough expelling the last of the blue liquid he'd swallowed.

"Thanks, for the save Tails," Sonic said weakly shaking Tails' hand allowing Tails to pull him to his feet.

From the corner of his eye, Chaos lunged again forcing both Sonic and Tails to avoid his attack.

The God of Destruction bubbled in response attacking Tails once more. The young fox dodged and weaved making sure to stay out of the God of Destruction's reach avoiding the long escalating arms as Sonic ran around in a tight circle feeling those bright green pupilless orbs focused on Tails.

Sonic took the opportunity to curl up for a homing attack landing a direct hit on Chaos' brain. The God of Destruction let out a muted cry of pain racing towards both Sonic and Tails extending his arms lashing them out sending them crashing into the ground, sending up more dirt covering both Sonic and Tails in the dirt, as Tails darted in landing a hit on Chaos' brain with his tails.

Chaos began to glitch out even faster with more red cubes leaking from all parts of his body. The God of Destruction bent over slightly before he broke into a desperate run, for he was determined to finish off Sonic and Tails.

"So, then let's show Chaos how the professionals do it."

Sonic looked over at Tails, the two of them clasped their hands leaping into the air curling up into a pair of balls as they spin-dashed past Chaos' frantic attacks landing a direct hit on the brain. The force of the impact cleaved through Chaos sending small droplets of water racing past both Sonic and Tails as they uncurled seeing Chaos, beginning to rapidly glitch out even more until he broke apart in a shower of red cubes.

"And that, my friend is how we take down Chaos," Sonic said, giving Tails a fist bump. "After nearly several half drownings, that felt so good, dealing out payback to Chaos."

"I'd imagine it did," Tails added in panting slightly. "I wonder if Gadget's found any information on the Phantom Ruby yet. It still doesn't explain why Chaos and Zavok were glitching like that."

"We need to move quickly," Sonic said. "I saw Eggman's Egg Mobile in the area, so we need to get that information and get out of here before Eggman comes back."

Sonic and Tails wordlessly headed back in the direction of Tails' workshop. Both of them knew that they couldn't afford to waste any more time.

Countdown to Eggman's plan 54 hours remaining.

Gadget tapped at the keys on the keyboard his eyes flickering back and forth at the screens. The wolf clicked through several photos and sifting through various images his eyes darting all over the place looking for the files that containing any information on the Phantom Ruby.

"Come, on, come on," Gadget muttered. "Let's see, scrapped robot designs. Location of the generator in Metropolis supplying power to the Phantom Ruby. Ten terabytes of mustache selfies, okay, didn't need to see that. Ah, here we go, Phantom Ruby."

The image of the Phantom Ruby appeared on the monitor. Gadget fought to keep the smile from his mouth doing a fist pump in triumph. The words flashed onto the screen with Gadget hastily sliding the flash drive into the open socket transferring the data from the computer screen.

"Subject the Phantom Ruby. This gem was discovered by me six months ago, when it crash-landed right outside my front door," Gadget reads the words on the screen, "When I bent down to touch the Phantom Ruby it showed me a vision of Eggmanland. It was glorious, and then it vanished, leading me to the conclusion, which the Phantom Ruby can feed false information to the brain thus creating a virtual reality for the victim."

Gadget paused in reading the words on the screen, his brain slowly processing the information. The wolf looked over at the Phantom Ruby prototype resting in the small case next to him, and he continued to read.

"I've created several prototypes of the Phantom Ruby," Eggman's voice continued. "However, unlike the original Phantom Ruby, they are extremely unstable, which means they can only be used for a few times before they collapse on themselves and only a being with a strong will can activate them."

The door slammed open, startling the wolf. Both Sonic and Tails staggered in dripping wet the hedgehog groaned, giving himself a little shake, sending water droplets all over the place.

"I hope that we never have fight Chaos again," Sonic mumbled. "So Gadget how is it going? Did you find any info on the Phantom Ruby?"

"I did and Tails, you need to have a look at this," Gadget vacated the seat, allowing Tails to slip into it. The young fox read the words on the screen.

"So, that explains why Zavok was glitching out on the Death Egg," Tails breathed out. The Phantom Ruby can create a virtual reality where it feels so real that if you hit yourself, it feels like that you're sleepwalking. Except you're not and that so, that means, Chaos, Zavok, and Shadow are all fakes. Metal Sonic is the only one that's real and with this information we now finally have a strategy to deal with the Phantom Ruby."

"Great, now that we know what we're up against, Eggman no longer has the advantage," Sonic said smiling. "Knux is going to be happy with this news, and we need to head back so that we can end this war."

Tails unhooked the Prototype Phantom Ruby handing it back to Gadget watching it glow in the palm of the wolf's hand before Gadget pocketed it. The three of them left the lab with Tails sitting down at the table, removing the flash drive from its slot in the computer. Tails then shut down the device walking out of the room. The trio left Tail's workshop. The late afternoon skies were beginning to gain an evening hue as the Tornado took off heading back towards Angel Island and with it, the key to winning the war was in the Resistance's hands.

Countdown to Eggman's plan 49 hours remaining.

Meanwhile, far away from the events going in Mystic Ruins, Kaito stirred ever so slightly in a strange bed. He opened his eyes, feeling a faint throbbing pain in his chest. With a low moan, he began to sit up in the bed, his gaze traveled around the small bed, with the thick blanket pulled up to his chest. Kaito gazed around the luxurious penthouse the red sheet was halfway up on his chest, and he noticed the fresh bandages wrapped around his chest. He looked up at the open window, seeing the first of the stars in the nighttime sky.

"Where am I?" Kaito asked himself Kaito sat hunched over resting his head in his hands, his brain struggling to recall what's happened in the last day. Then a rush of memories hit him. Kaito's kidnapping by his half-brother was still fresh in his mind. He'd watched Eggman and Infinite discussing destroying the world and the sharp stabbing pain of Metal Sonic ripping out his Phantom Ruby gem fragment and the raw grief and anger at hearing the news that the rest of the Resistance were dead.

He allowed his gaze to wander around his bizarre, strange new location until his eyes fell on the short crimson sword resting against a bookcase. Kaito felt his breath hitch in his chest. That sword once belonged to Zerinn, and he pushed himself painfully out of bed limping towards the red short sword. Eggman's robots must've brought him here.

"You should be resting," Infinite said, looking at Kaito. "I heard from Eggman, that there was an accident when you tried to escape."

Kaito whirled around fear in his eyes seeing Infinite sitting down on the other end of the table with two plates of toast in front of him. The pieces of toast smothered in honey. The masked jackal wordlessly pushed the second plate towards Kaito. Infinite shifted slightly on the seat observing Kaito. Kaito noticed the half eaten pile of toast on Infinite's plate.

"It's not poison," Infinite spoke stoically. "You need to eat."

Kaito took a close look at Zerinn's fur. It did look a little pale, and Kaito could see Infinite's ribs were beginning to show through on his sides. Kaito noticed his brother wasn't looking too well. Infinite looked exhausted now Kaito thought about it.

"Says the monster who is killing everyone," Kaito said, shooting a glare at Infinite. He pushed the plate off to the side. "So, I guess that you're happy now. You have everything, and you're still as weak as ever just like our father was."

That was the wrong thing to say as Infinite teleported right next to Kaito. Kaito wanted to tell Infinite the truth of how'd he was injured, but feeling the cold steel mask pressed up to his face Kaito felt his confidence ebb away. Infinite remained silent his fingers flexed slowly in a threatening gesture.

"I am nothing like our Father," Infinite growled. "He is somewhere in Shamar, a broken wreck while I am strong. The Resistance is not dead. Eggman lied to you, but they have two days left to stop our plan, and they will all perish in the end. They are nothing, but ants frantically racing about delaying their inevitable demise."

Kaito's ears twitched in surprise at the news that the Resistance was still alive. That meant Gadget, and the others were still alive. It didn't ease the stab of pain he felt in his chest at the fact that Zerinn his older half-brother had become so cold towards him.

"It'll be a show that I think you'll enjoy," Infinite said, walking out of the room tilting his head. "Even if the Resistance chooses to fight back, soon they will be forced to yield to the power of the Phantom Ruby. I will soon be the strongest being in all of Mobius."

"Zerinn, please don't do this," Kaito said desperation clinging to his voice. "That thing on your chest is screwing with your mind. You're confusing your strength with weakness. You were strong before that ruby, but now you've given into your fear. You've convinced yourself that you're weak."

"I am not weak," Infinite snarled."You, on the other hand, failed to tap into the power of the Phantom Ruby fragment on your chest, and it shows that you are weak."

Zerinn turned on his heel walking away across the room heading towards the door pausing. Something else was on his mind. Kaito saw the masked jackal's shoulders slump slightly.

"No, the old me was too weak to save half of the members in our squad," Infinite replied tiredly his hand resting on the door handle. "The Resistance have less than two days left to prepare for the end. In the end, they will all submit to the power of the Phantom Ruby."

Infinite traced the Phantom Ruby Prototype on his chest with two fingers. The masked jackal left the penthouse. Kaito huffed in annoyance wincing ever so slightly, feeling a stab of pain in his chest where he made his way reluctantly back into the bed, grabbing the small plate of toast sitting down on his temporary resting place as a plan slowly began to form in his mind.

"I will find a way to escape," Kaito vowed to himself, spying the red trail of light indicating Infinite's departure. Kaito clenched his fist in determination. "The Resistance will find a way to prevail, and I will do everything I can to help them."

Kaito winced, feeling a fresh stab of pain. He didn't care what happened to him. For now, all he needed to do was to bide his time and wait for the right moment to strike.

Knuckles paced back and forth barking commands as the rest of the Resistance hurried towards one of the several large white ships resting on the edge of Angel Island Silver was with him a tense frown on his face along with Espio. The two of them had been in an in-depth discussion with each other for the last few minutes.

"Knuckles, you have been a fine leader commanding the Resistance for the last six months," Espio began his sentence looking over to Silver who nodded encouraging the chameleon to continue his sentence. "Are you sure that it's wise to act on a plan that you thought up in a minute and a half?"

"Of course I'm sure," Knuckles replied eagerly. "I've heard a rumor from several of our scouts that Eggman was in the Mystic Ruins on patrol there earlier today. Wherever Eggman goes Infinite is sure to be with him, and it's the perfect time to launch an attack."

"Okay, but what if you're wrong and both Eggman and Infinite are in Metropolis then?" Silver asked. "I was able to hold my own, against Infinite, but he overpowered me, and I nearly died. I'm not about to fail in my mission, to save the future. What if something goes wrong in this assault and even more people die Commander?"

"I'll try not to let any more people die," Knuckles grimly replied. "Even so it's a risk we have to take."

The tense atmosphere between the three Resistance members was broken when the Tornado came to a stop on the ground, allowing Sonic, Tails, and Gadget to leap off the plane. Knuckles came running up to them a look of relief passing over the echidna's face.

"Finally, it's about time that you're back," Knuckles said impatiently. "G.U.N's already gone ahead as they're heading to Metropolis right now as we speak. Did you find anything out about the Phantom Ruby?"

"We did, and it's able to create a virtual reality that can feed false information to the brain," Tails answered Knuckles' question with excitement in his voice."Also, it's powered by a generator in Metropolis, and we have now the generator's location thanks to Gadget."

"Well, then that's great to hear," Knuckles said smiling."If Gadget keeps up the good work like this, we can't call him a rookie anymore."

Cheers erupted from all around the listening Mobians as Knuckles had a broad smile on his face at the news. Gadget blushed slightly at the praise in his direction s Mikhail stepped out from the crowd giving his brother a small pat on the shoulder mouthing well done. The little sparks of hope which were dimmed by the loss of Sunset Heights came alive once more in the members of the Resistance's hearts.

"All right, then we can launch a full frontal assault on Metropolis and bring an end to this war!" Knuckles cried out encouraging the crowd to cheer even louder than before. The sound of their cheers erupted all around the small clearing.

"Let's move out then!"

Sonic called out the spark of hope building up in his chest as the resistance boarded the several large white ships taking off into the skies departing Angel Island heading in the direction of Metropolis. The Resistance felt nothing but hope at this point. If they were successful in their mission in capturing Eggman, then the cruel war which ravaged the planet would soon come to an end, and its people would no longer have to live in fear of the Eggman Empire's cold iron grip on the world anymore.

* * *

 _Author's note._

 _Well, then I promised that Chaos would be back in this story and here he is once more. This isn't even the last time that we're going to see Chaos since I do have one final battle involving Chaos later on. I've always planned for Tails to fight Chaos Zero at some point in the story because I wasn't going to have him sit there and cower in fear since that moment did irk me a little bit._

 _The reason that Eggman was at the Mystic Ruins was that he was inspecting one of his prisoner of war camps there and he noticed the Tornado arriving and so he decided to use the Phantom Ruby to send a fake Chaos to eliminate Sonic, Tails, and Gadget._

 _The combination Spinball attack is a move that Sonic and Tails use in Sonic four episode one and two. I figured it would be an excellent way to show their teamwork in defeating Chaos Zero._

 _I wanted the focus to be on the Phantom Ruby since we can all agree that it's overpowered and I wanted to have the Resistance discover it's secrets and all I can say for now is that even though they have this knowledge, it's still not going to help them that much. All I can say about Operation Big Wave is that things are going to get a little crazy._

 _Kaito was transported to Metropolis after receiving the blood transfusion after what Metal Sonic did to him in the last chapter and Kaito is not having a good time at the moment. He feels as though he has lost Zerinn since he refuses to associate Zerinn with Infinite. There is tension between these two half-brothers who were once so close to each other and things are going to get even tenser between Kaito and Infinite in the future._

 _As per usual Constructive Criticism/thoughts and reviews are welcome and appreciated as always, and I will be back to you guys with the next chapter hopefully soon._


	22. Operation Big Wave part one

_Author's note. I'm sorry for the delay with this chapter; I had some issues with my modem which resulted in me having, no internet, but it's fixed now, and then a family member came by for a visit, so life got in the way._

 _Before we get started on this chapter, I have to say Happy belated Birthday Sonic!_

 _As always a big thank you to the people who have faved, followed or viewed this story and I still can't believe that this story has reached over 150 reviews. Again I want to give a big thank you to all of the support for this story._

 _I would also like to say thank you to TGN, SD321, YamiChaos27, bajy, SharpDragonKlaw, Keybladewriter of the Dawn, AlexradriaPrime and Supreme Serious for their support since I do appreciate it._

 _Like I've said in a previous author's note all the way back in the first chapter one of the goals was to give Tails some redemption for how he was handled in Forces. It always annoyed me whenever I see Tails cowering in front of Chaos Zero when he's fought Chaos 4 all the way back in Sonic Adventure, so I wanted to give him his moment to shine._

 _Without any more further delays, now we get to the moment that the last two chapters have been building up to. It's time for Operation Big Wave._

* * *

Countdown to Eggman's plan 46 hours remain.

The interior of the Resistance's ship was huge. Gadget sat on the bench with a sleeping Mikhail on his left, and Sonic and Tails were to his right. The silence hung in the air. Gadget peered out of one of the small portholes in the side of the ship. The vast white skyline of Metropolis came into view. Gadget swallowed nervously hearing his heart thump in his chest. His mouth suddenly felt dry, the small beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Tails and Sonic were sitting together talking in low tones glancing up at Gadget briefly before resuming their conversation.

"Hey, Gadget?" Sonic asked. "You don't mind if we ask you something?"

"Of course, you can ask me anything," Gadget replied the small smile was never leaving his face. In his time in the Resistance Gadget had grown to trust both Sonic and Tails. There was something about Sonic that made Gadget feel that he could do anything. The fear and anxiety Gadget felt bubbling up inside of him faded away whenever he was in Sonic's presence. Gadget sometimes would still feel a bit of the stress and fear whenever he recalled Infinite callously murdering his friends, but that would soon fade away.

"It's just that both Sonic and I think that we met you and Mikhail somewhere before," Tails stated rubbing a hand over his chin. "You wouldn't have happened to be in Shamar when Eggman launched an attack there nine years ago?"

"Yes, that was me," Gadget replied his tail wagging in excitement thudding against the bench. "I, uh didn't get a chance to give you my name. Also, it's been nine years, and both Mikhail and I've grown up since the last time you saw us."

The grin on Sonic's face was the confirmation that the wolf needed that he did recognize him. "Heh, well you've certainly grown since then, and if Infinite does show his ugly mug again, it's going to be so satisfying kicking that masked freak's butt all over again."

There were a few cheers at Sonic's statement. Tails looked out at the porthole as Metropolis came into view. Everyone on board the ship saw several small black columns rising from the ground indicating where G.U.N, launching their attack on several of Eggman's factories.

"Well, at least everyone in the Resistance is now aware of what the Phantom Ruby can do," Amy said determinedly. "If we work together, then we don't have anything to fear from the Phantom Ruby."

Amy's words added a general mood of reassurance to the Resistance. Everyone knew that the best chance to end the war lay in Metropolis if Eggman was captured. It was their one chance to end the war once and for all.

The bustling streets of Metropolis were vacant. Several Egg pawns escorted the citizens down the streets as no one bothered to look up noticing the several white and blue ships coming through the air. Not too far behind them the loud roar of several G.U.N fighter jets racing through the air shooting down several of Eggman's smaller ships. The Resistance stood ready waiting in a tense silence. Knuckles swept his gaze over the assembled group.

"Okay, this is it," Knuckles said standing in the middle of the docking bay with the three teams facing him. "Tails' team will head straight for the Phantom Ruby Generator. Gadget will locate Kaito and get him out of wherever it is he's being held captive, and Sonic's team will locate Eggman and bring him to justice."

Knuckles looked over at Sonic, Gadget, and Tails standing in front of their respective groups. All of them had come together in this war, and if they were to triumph here, then the waking nightmare that was the war would be over.

"Remember, if we capture Eggman then we've won! Now go out there and reclaim Mobius and bring Eggman to justice!"

The cheers erupted from inside the ship as the doors opened. Gadget activated the grappling hook clasping the Hammer Wispon in his right hand. Mikhail, Chaser, and Vector were behind him. Gadget decided to keep a hold of the Phantom Ruby prototype. The wolf couldn't shake the feeling that it would come in handy.

"Good luck, guys!" Silver said encouraging the Resistance. "If we succeed here, then this war will be over!"

The door to the ship opened allowing Sonic to break away in one group consisting of himself, Shadow, Silver, Knuckles, Omega, and Charmy taking the pathway to the right. Tails broke into a run Amy, Sahara, Rouge, and Espio running off the left path to locate the source of the generator. That left Gadget's group to take the center pathway heading in the direction of the high-rise apartments.

"Dibs on the robots!"

Chaser ran forward with Vector and Mikhail. The robots stormed the group. Gadget ran ahead. His ears trained on the sound of several small hatches opening ahead of him on the pathway with several small laser cannons rising from the ground several smaller red lasers shot out of them forcing Gadget to jump over them feeling the hear of the lasers underneath his fur. The young wolf pressed on ahead running over a launchpad shooting into the air.

The sounds of feet hitting the speed ramp indicated Vector, Mikhail and Chaser were right behind him. The wind whooshed in Gadget's ears. He scanned the buildings all around him looking for his adoptive brother pushing down the stab of panic rising in his chest. From the corner of his eye, a flash of black and white fur appeared from out of nowhere. Gadget turned his head feeling the cold sense of dread creeping down his spine. The wolf made eye contact with Infinite. The pupil behind the mask narrowed in anger.

"You may not be alone, but I can remedy that," Infinite snarled.

Eggman's maniacal laughter erupted over the several loudspeakers stationed all over Metropolis. The mad doctor's voice was crackling through the static. Eggman himself appeared on a nearby monitor. Eggman flashed a broad smile was never leaving his face. Eggman glanced down seeing the looks of horror appearing on the Resistance members faces when they realized something had gone wrong with their plan.

"How absurd, it is, that all of you believed that I would leave my main base of operations unguarded," Eggman sneered. "Infinite it's time to activate the power of the Phantom Ruby! Wipe them all of the face of Mobius!"

Infinite shot forward raising his hand up high the familiar wave of red energy swept over Gadget, Vector, Chaser, and Mikhail. The force of the impact sent all four of them hovering in the air for a few brief moments turning upside down before the effect wore off leaving all four of them to crash into one of the nearby platforms. Gadget felt his teeth nearly biting his tongue in two. Everyone lay there groaning in pain from the fall.

"Ugh, that fall hurt," Vector grumbled. "Did Infinite just use the Phantom Ruby on us?"

"I think he did," Chaser groaned opening his eyes hearing the screams in the distance. "Oh, come on, what now?"

Gadget felt something cold touching his face as he opened his eyes coming face to face with large silver mask hovering inches in front of him. The thing that was attached to the rest of the mask was a long pulsating black mass resembling Infinite; a single purple eye peered out at the Resistance. The long white twisting dreadlocks hung down behind its head as the thing opened its mouth exposing several serrated teeth and a long purple tongue shot forward to ensnare Gadget.

"Gadget!"

Mikhail knocked them both off out of the way hearing the massive slam of the things' teeth scraping against empty air. Gadget paused gazing out in horror spying several more of the creatures looming above the city. The terrifying thing about these creatures was that several of them tore into the G.U.N reinforcements sweeping the vehicles aside like they were toys.

"Stay calm everyone!" Knuckles' voice cut through the communicator an urgent tone in his voice. "What you're seeing is not real. It's the Phantom Ruby's illusions!"

"Sir, we just lost Fox Squad!" A panicked voice came over the intercom. "Stay calm? These monsters are ever- " A thud echoed over the intercom followed by the static crackling over the radio.

"Aw man, this isn't looking good," Vector said gazing out in horror at the site of the Infinite clones rampaging through the city. "One flip of the Phantom Ruby switch and this whole mission just turned into a bloodbath."

"How, can we fight against these monsters?"

Gadget shook his head numbly. All around them the distant screams of the Resistance members echoed off in the distance. The Resistance was losing more members by the minute, and Gadget shuddered. Chaser and Mikhail stared in disbelief at the carnage all around them.

"We'll have to hurry up, and find Kaito," Chaser said grimly. "Well, so much for the brilliant plan that our leader came up within a minute and a half."

The four of them nodded heading back into the city to locate their missing comrade while all around them the world had gone to hell. Infinite silently observed them high up in the sky before setting off in pursuit of the group.

* * *

Not too far away from where Gadget's group encountered Infinite. Tails' group were the next ones to be affected by the Phantom Ruby. The next thing Tails heard was the sound of the screams of the Resistance members dying left and right. The fox swore that they would forever haunt him for the rest of his life. The guilt ate away at his chest. Tails felt the tears of grief building up in his eyes, for the deaths of the members of the Resistance killed in action. Before this whole war started everyone in the Resistance had once been ordinary citizens, living out their lives where their only concerns, had been finding work, starting a family and living out their dreams. Now somewhere in the city, both citizens and members of the Resistance lay dead or dying on the ground.

"Tails, are you okay?"

Tails jerked his head up seeing Amy looking at him with concern. The hedgehog reached out for Tails placing a gentle hand on his shoulder gently caressing his fur in a soothing motion. The hedgehog's eyes were watering with unshed tears.

"No, Amy I'm not okay," Tails replied his voice on the verge of breaking into tears. "I know it's hard, but we can grieve later. If we don't shut down the generator, then their deaths will have been for nothing."

The young fox led his small group right into the heart of Metropolis where they'd heard the sound of the Phantom Ruby activated. What they saw next horrified them. Several monstrous creatures rising above the city limits their long white stiff dreadlocks hanging down. They moved their heads from side to side, attacking at the platforms sending several Resistance soldiers plummeting to their deaths.

"Oh, Chaos, what are those things?" Amy breathed out. "They've already wiped out twenty percent of the Resistance!"

A large shadow fell overhead. Amy froze feeling a small black glob of saliva landing on her head. Amy grimaced wiping away the tiny glob away from the top of her head. Her heart froze in her chest spying the massive Infinite clone leering over her its mouth agape exposing its sharp teeth. More globs of salvia leaking out from the thing's mouth as Tails lunged forward knocking Amy away the head came racing towards the ground the sharp teeth ripping through, concrete, steel, and wiring. Tails took to the air with Amy holding on for dear life as Rouge was carrying Espio.

"Infinite's insane," Espio whispered in horror. The chameleon threw several Kunai at the monster's eyes. "This is nothing, more than a monster indeed. Knuckles was foolish to act on a plan he thought up in a minute and a half like this."

"Yeah, it's not easy to look at," Rouge frowned. "This is a monster. This thing's not going to let us get to the generator without a fight."

"Remember they're not real," Tails called out his voice trembling. The fox ascended his eyes scanning the horizon. The young fox held onto the Miles Electric typing in several keys. Amy darted forward swinging her Piko-Piko Hammer at the creature's hands. The hammer struck the thick claws. The Infinite clone withdrew its hands as Tails spied a sizeable oval-shaped object in the distance.

"The generator is over there!" Tails called out. Tails dodged the swipe of the Infinite clone's claws and the sudden lunge the fox made eye contact with the purple eye glaring at him through the mask.

The fox avoided the second attack weaving in between the thick, black claws. The air whooshed along Tails' back as he landed on the ground his heart hammering away at his near miss.

Rouge ducked and weaved through the fingers a scowl forming on her face. She drills kicked the hand reaching out to grab both her and Tails hearing the low distorted yelp from the thing in front of them.

"All right then let's head over to it," Rouge said diving. The bat hovered in the air her eyes scanning the area. "Honestly, Knuckles should've been more careful when planning into this operation."

"There is no shame if we have to run away," Espio muttered. "It means we'll live to fight another day."

"Espio's right," Sahara said taking several steps closer to the chameleon. "So, many of members in the Resistance are dead. We can't let their deaths be in vain."

"We still have a direct path the generator," Tails said withdrawing a small device from a small bag the fox had around his waist. "I've created a small explosive device that will destroy the generator. With the generator gone, then the Phantom Ruby will be weakened."

Tails dived through the air slicing his tails through the oncoming robots with Amy, Rouge and Espio fighting their way out of the blockade heading towards the generator. The young fox turned over his shoulder to see Amy, Rouge, and Espio following him in silence. The small group was determined to reach the generator. Tails wanted to ensure that no one else was going to die in the war raging all around them.

Kaito watched in horror at the sight of the large clones of Infinite rampaging through the streets. Kaito slowly shook in rage clenching his fists. If there a word that Kaito could use to describe the scene in front of him it would be chaos. From his vantage point, he'd seen Infinite unleash the power of the Phantom Ruby and then those things appeared. All Kaito could do was watch in horror at the site of these monsters killing both members of the Resistance and citizens alike.

"Zerinn, why would you do this?"

Kaito closed his eyes thinking back to all the times when he and Zerinn were kids. The two of them roaming the streets of Saharais searching for bundles of food together in the trash bins. Sleeping huddled together under a thick blanket against the cold desert night air, and when Gadget had arrived in Saharais as a tired, bedraggled kid, the three of them became adoptive brothers. The three of them promised they would always be brothers no matter what happened.

"We'll always be brothers, no matter what happens," Zerinn addressed both Kaito and Gadget with a soft smile on his face.

Decision made, the young jackal limped forward bending down slightly to grip the hilt of his brother's sword shouldering it over his shoulder blades feeling the weight of the sword balanced across his shoulders.

"You're, not fit to wield this sword Infinite," Kaito spat. "Our father was right. You are a poor choice of leader."

Kaito inhaled profoundly making his way towards the exit of the small penthouse. The dull boom shook the roof. Kaito glanced up to spy a brief glimpse of black the silver mask of one of the Infinite clones gazing at him through the window. The creature reared back, prompting Kaito to run racing towards the door, he opened it hurrying into the hallway. The sound of shattering glass behind him indicated that the monster slammed its head into the window.

"It doesn't matter whom these things attack," Kaito breathed out in horror.

The building vibrated violently from the force of the impact knocking Kaito of his feet. At that moment Kaito realized that taking the elevator wasn't a good idea. The jackal was on the third floor. Kaito ran down the emergency stairs; the building continued to shake from the impact of the monster striking the building. Kaito hurtled down the stairs hoping he wouldn't fall and potentially break something.

Most of the residents in the building had been captured right at the start of the war leaving the building abandoned. Kaito ran out of the building to put as much distance between him and the building.

With a sickening lurch, the giant Infinite clone once more slammed into the building, which collapsed to the ground. Kaito ran ahead getting out of the way before the building collapsed in a massive pile of brick, steel and concrete ignoring the stab of pain coming from his side.

The wave of dust covered him from head to toe. Kaito heard the sound of footsteps on the road; Several G.U.N Soldiers escorted several citizens. Debris was scattered everywhere near a twisted mess of metal and concrete littered the place where the high-rise apartments once stood. There were small fragments of shattered glass lay sprinkled all over the ground. The sight of the unfolding disaster struck terror into the hearts of the surviving citizens.

"Hey, you!" One of the G.U.N soldiers noticed Kaito running over to him the rifle clasped tightly in his hands. "Are you one of the prisoners?"

"Yes, I am," Kaito said relief in his voice. "I'm Kaito from the Resistance. I'll help you escort these prisoners to safety."

Kaito took several steps forward only for his knees to buckle as he sank to the ground. He stiffened feeling a pair of arms wrap themselves around Kaito lifting in the bridal position.

"Take it easy Kaito. You're in no condition to walk far," The G.U.N soldier spoke with another one stepping forward to reclaim the sword. "That injury needs to be treated. Once this mess is over, you'll be back among the Resistance."

Kaito numbly nodded turning his head back at the destroyed building horror mounting in his chest. The giant monster moved away from the building swinging its massive head from side to side. The citizens glanced up in terror at what was going on above them. Kaito was jostled by the human carrying him breaking into a run. There was one thing that was clear to Kaito. Zerinn was indeed dead, and the realization shattered his already fragile heart. Kaito whimpered letting a low, quiet sob escape from his mouth, for once not caring who was watching him weep for his loss.

* * *

Countdown to Eggman's plan forty-four hours remain.

Sonic put on a burst of speed racing to one of the highest points of Metropolis. It was chaos. The distant screams of both citizens and the trapped members of the Resistance echoed in the distance. Sonic grimaced seeing the massive black forms of the Infinite clones in the distance raising their limbs slamming them into the bridge. The Resistance members let out terrified screams falling to their deaths. Sonic felt sick just looking at the monsters running rampant in the streets.

For the last couple of hours, the screams filled the air. They were nothing more, but cries of fear and pain.

"Commander Knuckles! This is the Eagle Squad. We've lost most of the members of our squad, and we need reinforcements now!" In the horrifying seconds, after the soldier uttered the last word, a loud crashing sound came from the radio followed by static indicating to everyone that they'd lost another life to this war. Silver lowered his head into the palm of his hand to weep in grief for the deaths of those who'd perished.

"We can't go on like this," Sonic frowned scanning the distance with a frown on his face. "Maybe acting on a plan that you thought up in a minute and a half wasn't your best move, Knuckles."

"We need to get out of here," Charmy said nervously. "There are so many of those monsters, and they give me the creeps."

Knuckles gritted his teeth. The guardian was focusing his attention on the small communicator nestled in his palm. "So, Fox Squad is wiped out, and I know that Snake Squad is right behind us led by a blue parrot. I thought that the scout said that Infinite would be out of Metropolis."

"Casualty report is on the increase," Omega intoned. "My sensors indicate that sixty percent of the Resistance have been wiped out. I recommend a tactical retreat. At this rate will have insufficient numbers to confront Eggman alone."

"I would have to agree with Omega," Shadow added in turning his head surveying the devastation all around them. "We can't afford to lose any more lives."

Silver inhaled deeply his eyes trained on the horizon. They were out of the Phantom Ruby's range which was a good thing, but something appeared to come racing towards them at full speed. Silver saw the moon's light reflecting off the deep blue hull the pair of red optics glaring right at the small group. Sonic tensed once he realized who was racing towards them.

"Oh, come on!" Sonic protested at the unwelcome arrival of his metal counterpart. "The last thing we need is Metal Sonic to show up when we don't need him too."

Metal Sonic hovered in the air the robot slowly withdrew the bloody Phantom Ruby fragment clasping it in his metallic claws. The robot held it high up in the air the dried blood clung to the magenta surface the red optics glaring down at Sonic.

"Metal's got one of the Phantom Ruby fragments," Sonic said slowly hearing his heart pounding in his chest in fear. "I need to get it away from him!"

Before anyone could stop him, Sonic broke into a sprint. Metal Sonic swung his hand down the wave of energy erupted from the gem. The red wave encompassed Sonic lifting him up off the ground; Sonic flailed about feeling the weightlessness lifting him up into the air before he came crashing to the ground.

"Ow, that wasn't a soft landing," Sonic winced ignoring the pain pushing himself to his feet. The inky black skies littered with stars lined the horizon for miles. Sonic let out a low gasp looking over at the starry abyss above him. He looked down at his feet noticing Shadow, Silver Omega and Charmy were gazing around them in wonder at the neon-lit pathways with several searchlights going back and forth illuminating the night sky.

"This is another of the Phantom Ruby's Illusions," Shadow said frowning. "Metal Sonic has to be here somewhere."

The group huddled closer when Sonic heard the distant hum of engines in the distance. Metal Sonic shot forward wave of heat singed Sonic's fur lashing out with his claws scoring a direct hit across the hedgehog's arms. The impact left deep cuts in the peach fur. The hedgehog landed on the ground not too far away from them folding his arms lifting a finger to wag at them mockingly.

"Hey, that's my thing Metal!" Sonic retorted stretching his legs flashing a cocky smile at his robotic counterpart. "If you back down now, and hand over that Phantom Ruby fragment peacefully, then I'll make sure that your beating won't be so painful!"

Metal Sonic's response was to open a small panel in his chest slipping in the fragment of the Phantom Ruby Prototype into it hearing a low hum coming from the shard. A wave of red energy washed over Metal Sonic lifting him into the air wrapping Metal Sonic in a magenta glow. The Robot's quills grew longer and sharper; his shoes became pointer resembling a pair of elf's shoes, a band of magenta spikes wrapped around Metals' waist, ankles, and wrists. A long red cape with magenta streaks appeared behind him, with a magenta stripe donning the top of the robot's head.

"All living things kneel before your Master," Metal Sonic said his powerful voice echoing across the area. "I am Phantom Metal Sonic, and I challenge you to a race."

"Okay, then Phantom Metal Sonic, I'll take you on," Sonic replied cockily. "So let me guess it's just a simple race around Stardust Speedway and the winner doesn't have their face smashed into a wall?"

"Something like that. I will not suffer the same defeat I did in our first encounter years ago on the Little Planet," Phantom Metal Sonic said a cold menace to his voice. "If you and Shadow win the race, then you'll all go free, if you lose well then you'll all perish."

At the silent command, several more Metal Sonics raced from out of nowhere. The metal hedgehogs quickly surrounded Shadow, Omega, Charmy, and Silver. The four of them immediately fought back against the robotic horde. Silver raised his hand wrapping up several robots in a cyan glow freezing them in place allowing Omega to mow several of them down with his weaponry. Shadow, kicked several Metal Sonics out of the way along with Charmy the former racing to stand alongside Sonic.

"We'll fight our way out of this illusion," Silver rallied everyone in the group. "We'll never surrender to the likes of Metal Sonic or Eggman!"

"Don't give up!" Knuckles called out urging the Resistance members to fight back as they did so. Sonic noticed that the situation would soon become desperate, the longer that all of them were under the influence of the Phantom Ruby, there was a good chance that they would all perish either at Metal Sonic's hands or Eggman's if he discovered them under the influence of the Phantom Ruby.

"So, then are you prepared to lose Metal?" Sonic asked cheekily crouching down along with Shadow offering up a quiet grunt crouching down next to Sonic.

"There can only be one Sonic," Metal Sonic tightly responded as the three of them lined up together before they took off at supersonic speeds heading down the runaway locked in a race that would decide the fates of the members of the Resistance and the lives of the citizens of Metropolis.

* * *

 _Author's note_

 _Well, here we go. Operation Big Wave is here at last, and there are a lot of serious moments in this chapter. In Forces, the giant Infinite clones were a neat idea, but they should've done more instead of sitting there and having automated swipes at the bridges your Avatar character was on. They're more of a threat here._

 _Also, the line of capturing Eggman comes from in the game it's mentioned in Metropolitan Highway Knuckles says if they capture Eggman they will have won the war which is why it's brought up here in this chapter._

 _The scene where Sonic asks Gadget if they've met before comes from the Wolf and the Jackal since it takes place nine years before the events of this story. So that it clears up any confusion that might occur._

 _I did like the Metal Sonic Boss fight, but I do have a mixed opinion on it since it was a bit boring. I wanted to make it a little more exciting giving it several shout-outs to Sonic, CD and a Sonic Heroes reference with Neo Metal Sonic. When I first saw the trailer for Forces, I thought that Metal Sonic would take the Phantom Ruby for himself which would've made for an interesting boss fight, but sadly that wasn't the case._

 _I thought that it was a little odd, that when Amy says that 80% of the Resistance was wiped out, we don't get much of a reaction from well anyone. I mean these guys have been fighting alongside Sonic and his allies for a little over six months, and a passing mention of eighty percent of the Resistance getting killed is odd. I wanted to add in some emotional impact and to drive in the point that these characters are fighting a war and the loss of their comrades is going to be hard on them._

 _Also, Operation Big Wave is going to be a three-parter instead of the usual chapters that are split into two parts since the last part does involve a particular stage that didn't quite reach its full potential. It's also going to be the final multi-parter chapter of this story._

 _As per usual Constructive criticism/thoughts and reviews are welcomed and appreciated, and I will have the second part of Operation Big Wave out as soon as I can._


	23. Operation Big Wave part two

_Author's note I'm back once again. I' know that with the events of Operation Big Wave has finally begun, and all I can say about the next few chapters is that things are going to get darker._

 _I can't believe that this story has over 30 favorites. Thank you all so much for the people who have faved and followed this fic._

 _As per usual I want to have to give a thank you to Horus 115, replied grunt14, OneNutty Author and Black Twilight Wolf for leaving a favorite on this story. I genuinely appreciate the support._

 _Also, a big Thank you to Spider Dom 321 TheGameNguyener Alexandria Prime, bajy Yami Chaos 27, SharpDragonKlaw, Guest and Keyblade writer of the dawn. Your support genuinely does mean a lot to me. Without your feedback, I don't think this story would've gotten to where it is today._

 _Disclaimer I in no way shape or form own Sonic the Hedgehog, or it's characters. The only things I own are my OCS and the plot of this story._

 _Well here, at last, is Operation Big Wave part two._

* * *

The starry skies hung high above Stardust Speedway. The quiet atmosphere became shattered by the sound of a sonic boom from Sonic, Shadow and Phantom Metal Sonic tore across the pathway of Stardust Speedway. Phantom Metal Sonic flew up into the air swinging his hands out throwing several red balls of energy aiming at Sonic and Shadow.

"Heh, is that the best you can do Phantom Metal Sonic?" Sonic rebuked flashing a cheeky smile. "You're seriously running out of creative ideas for names for your upgraded forms."

"Silence! You won't be alive for much longer," Phantom Metal Sonic snarled in anger. Holding up his hands a small wave of red energy built up in the palm of his hands throwing it at the sides of the platform. The loud vibrations shook the platform Shadow glanced back to see a large Egg mobile being pilot by two of the Metal Sonic clones a large laser striking the ground.

"Heh, that's certainly nostalgic using a giant laser in this race," Sonic grinned. "I remember Eggy doing the same thing the very first time I raced you. So I bet that you can't wait to run into a wall then?"

"I won't be the one running into a wall this time," Phantom Metal Sonic growled turning his whole body around to throw more energy balls at both Sonic and Shadow who quickly avoided them.

"This reminds of the last time we fought him as Metal Overlord," Shadow frowned hearing the dull rush of energy as Metal Sonic made another dive at Sonic who dodged at the last second. In the distance, Sonic saw the laser coming closer as Shadow landed a successful homing attack on Phantom Metal who shook off the blow.

Silver growled holding up his hands a light cyan glow wrapping around as several of the Metal Sonic clones were shrouded in the glow, allowing Knuckles, Charmy and Omega to knock away the clones that kept on rushing in to attack

"Sonic, we need to finish this race soon. Phantom Metal Sonic is a formidable opponent," Shadow instinctively reached back for the Chaos Emerald stashed in his quills. Shadow recalled the last time he'd attempted to use the power of a Chaos Emerald against the Phantom Ruby the gesture proved to be useless remembering with disgust the grim smile appearing on Quartz's face.

The balls of energy shot through the forcing the two hedgehogs to avoid the oncoming blasts striking the ground leaving scorch marks. Sonic risked a glance to see the laser racing towards him the whoosh of the heat of the laser eating up the runway behind them.

"This is pathetic, you two are barely putting up a fight," Phantom Metal Sonic intoned coldly. "And soon your lives will be forfeit along with all of your comrades. I beat you in all the races aboard the Death Egg and this race will be your last."

Sonic snorted with laughter at Metal Sonic's statement. The movement alerted Metal Sonic turning his head towards Sonic. Metal Sonic rushed towards Sonic. The blue hedgehog ducked the blow as Shadow kicked out at Phantom Metal Sonic knocking him away as Sonic took the opportunity to curl up slamming into his robotic counterpart the Metallic hedgehog shot off into the skies his optics zeroed in on Sonic.

Metal Sonic raised both of his hands into the air several smaller red balls of energy formed in the palms of his hands throwing them at Sonic making another charge at Sonic. Sonic ducked at the last second feeling the whoosh of air rushing past him turning on his heel to see Phantom Metal Sonic conjure up several red balls of energy slamming into the ground.

"Okay, so that Egg Mobile is eating up the track faster now? Oh, that's not good," Sonic said breaking into a run heading towards the finish line with Shadow racing next to him the small grey wall was beginning to lower down. The whirring of the engines indicated that the mobile behind him. Sonic turned to Shadow the two rivals locked eyes for the briefest of moments. A few more yells of panic came from the Resistance members alerted Sonic that the situation was beginning to turn dire for the remaining members of the Resistance.

"We need to end this quickly," Knuckles grumbled punching several of the Metal Sonics away from the Resistance."

Phantom Metal Sonic chuckled darkly taking glee in the predicament of Sonic and Shadow. The robotic counterpart vowed to himself that he was going to kill Sonic this time. The power of the Phantom Ruby flowing through Metal Sonic's circuitry filled the robot with a sense of superiority.

The next dive slammed into Sonic knocking him off his feet sending him crashing along the ground. Sonic groaned quickly getting back to his feet before he saw Phantom Metal Sonic float above him turning over in the air lunging out with a kick catching Sonic across the side of the head. Sonic dodged the second kick. Shadow lunged out with another punch hitting Metal Sonic on the robot's face.

"Not this time Metal Sonic!"

Sonic glanced up seeing a cyan glow wrap around Phantom Metal Sonic holding him in place as Silver gritted his teeth holding the robot in place. Sonic grinned seizing the opportunity landing several homing attacks against Metal Sonic; Sonic wrenched open the panel wrapping his fingers around the shard of the Phantom Ruby yanking it out of Metal Sonic's chest.

Stardust Speedway vanished causing Sonic, Knuckles, Omega, Charmy, Shadow, and Silver to drop to the ground along with the Resistance soldiers. All of them were greeted by the sight of the Infinite clones in the distance still ravaging through Metropolis the dull boom as one of them lunged out at the building slamming its head through one of the windows. The building lurched off to the side. Somehow the building miraculously remained upright. Metal Sonic got up sparks jutting out from his shoulder blades holding a hand taking several steps towards them.

"Sonic, if I may do the honors," Silver spoke plucking the Phantom Ruby fragment from Sonic's hand noticing the cracks spreading. Without warning the shard of the Phantom Ruby shattered in Silver's hands. Metal Sonic let out a low beep shaking his fist in defiance before he ascended into the air shooting away into the distance.

"That's it, just fly away from us you chicken!" Charmy called out.

"Well, that's Metal Sonic, dealt with," Knuckles said in relief looking over at the assembled Resistance soldiers. "All right then we resume the search for Eggman, and we may be small in number, we can still capture Eggman, and end this war,"

"No, we can't afford to put any more lives at risk," Shadow spoke up disagreeing with Knuckles. the ultimate Lifeform folded his arms across his chest leveling a fierce glare at Knuckles the guardian returned the glare tenfold clenching his fists in a gesture of defiance in his refusal to back down.

"Omega, how many more people did we lose while we were under the influence of the Phantom Ruby?"

"The duration that we spent trapped in the Phantom Ruby's illusion spanned two hours," Omega informed Shadow. "My sensors indicate that we have lost sixty-five percent of the Resistance in that timeframe. If we do not retreat, the casualty rate will increase."

"Shadow's right, we need to plan out a tactical retreat," Silver added in his voice trembling with slight anger. "Commander, with all due respect, we need to fall back now. If we don't want everyone in the Resistance to die, we'll also live to fight another day.

Knuckles said nothing, glaring at both Shadow and Silver. The Guardian opened his mouth to offer up a criticism when a vibration tore through the bridge knocking every one of their feet. Panicked screams came from the members of the Resistance looking around in pure terror fully expecting one of the giant Infinite clones to have found them.

"Sensors are picking up on the Phantom Ruby energy signature. Infinite is approaching our location, and it appears that he is in pursuit of Gadget's group."

Chills crept down Sonic's spine, and everyone looked horrified at the news. Several Resistance members hurried over to the edge of the railing spying indeed down below Infinite attacking Gadget's team and the wolf leading the team looked utterly terrified.

* * *

Countdown to Eggman's plan 42 hours remaining.

Terror was the only emotion Gadget experienced in the heat of the moment. Infinite hovered behind his group keeping his distance, throwing several red balls of energy at the ground. Chaser and Mikhail skidded to a stop raising their Wispons firing back at Infinite who avoided the attacks the low chuckle escaped his mouth,

"So, the only challenge that the world has left to offer to me is some trembling children."

Infinite smirked landing in front of them folding his arms in front of the Phantom Ruby, tracking their every movement the single pupil fixed solely on Gadget.

Sonic ran over to one of the higher walkway's edge spying Gadget's group frozen in terror on the pathway with Infinite in pursuit the jackal flew overhead of the small group the single eye fixated on Gadget as the young wolf came to a stop beginning to tremble slightly with fear and anxiety.

The jackal conjured up several balls of red energy throwing them with a precise aim at Gadget's group the small balls of energy striking the ground. Gadget froze his breath coming out in short gasps looking up at Infinite in fear. The jackal stood there flexing his fingers in excitement, teleporting to Gadget's location with Mikhail running forward. Infinite saw him coming raising a hand to knock Mikhail back away from Gadget.

Sonic glowered down at the jackal. Infinite took several steps forward his tail swishing back and forth clenching his hist taking joy in seeing Gadget squirm underneath his glare.

"Hey, Gadget, don't be afraid to face your fears head on!" Sonic met the terrified wolf's gaze "Swallow that fear and show Infinite that you're not afraid!"

Gadget tilted his head slightly making eye contact with Sonic. The reassuring expression on the hedgehog's face gave him confidence. Gadget inhaled turning his head to meet Infinite's gaze. The jackal growled unhappily with Sonic's words. "So, you're not going to run away this time and instead you want to fight and die or get tortured to death then?"

"You're not the friend I once knew Zerinn," Gadget growled holding a fist out in defiance. "I won't be afraid of you anymore. I will fight back even if I have to die in the process."

A dark chuckle emitted from Infinite reaching up with a pair of fingers pushing back the mask on his face. The sound lasted for a long time. Chills crept down everyone's spines at the unsettling sound.

"Ah, Zerinn it's been a long time since I've last heard that name," Infinite replied coldly. "So I see that you wish to experience both fear and pain. I will ensure that fear and pain lasts forever."

"Gadget I'll fight alongside you!" Mikhail protested grabbing the handle of his Void Wispon about to jump into the fray to protect his younger half-brother.

"Mikhail don't!" Gadget cried out in panic.

Infinite dived heading for Gadget. The red wolf raced to meet him head on the jackal his Hammer Wispon raised landing a blow on the jackal's side Infinite unleashed a wave of red cubes aimed at Gadget moving out of the way. The two of them circled each other preparing for the next attack., Suddenly a dull boom echoed off in the distance. Infinite turned around his eye widening in fear seeing the massive building collapse to the ground in a shower of debris and concrete.

"Kaito!"

The jackal abandoned the fight taking off in the direction of the high-rise apartment complex urgently. Gadget's eyes widened in shock at the jackal's desire to leave the battle. Gadget pursued Infinite along with the rest of this team right behind him heading in the direction of the fallen apartment complex.

"Gadget, what if Kaito is still in there?"

Chaser's anxious shout carried over the wind. Gadget stood numbly. Form the corner of the wolf's eye he saw Sonic turning around breaking into a run leaving his position. No doubt Sonic intended to follow Gadget's group to protect them from whatever attack Infinite would come up with next.

* * *

Countdown to Eggman's plan 41 hours remain.

An hour passed ever since the building had gone down. Infinite arrived first on the scene pawing through the debris with reckless abandon. Small piles of concrete and broken glass lay at Infinite's feet. The jackal frantically continued to dig through the rubble hoping to find Kaito buried somewhere in the wreckage.

"Kaito! Kaito!"

Gadget's team arrived on the scene several minutes after Infinite's hasty departure. Infinite soon gave up on the effort his shoulders slumping leaning forward from the effort giving up on digging through the wreckage. A tense quiet filled the area before Infinite threw back his head letting out a scream of rage and grief. Infinite slowly got up to his feet turning to face Gadget.

"No, Kaito's dead isn't he?" Gadget asked his eyes wet with unshed tears a hand being held up to his mouth. The emotional weight of Kaito's death crushed his heart; the wolf sank down on his knees placing his head in his hands. Chaser, Mikhail, and Vector hung their heads in silence grieving the loss of one of their allies.

Infinite slammed both fists into the rubble letting out a loud scream. It was a scream of pain, grief, and loss rolled into one. The jackal continued to scream in emotional agony his cry reaching the heavens. Sonic skidded to a stop his ears twitching picking up the origin of the noise before he gritted his teeth heading in the direction of the scream.

"I told them not to attack this building!"

Infinite's anguished cry echoed all around the area. Infinite's chest rose and fell the jackal's claws unevenly digging into the small fragments of concrete the single tear slipping out from underneath the chrome mask. Infinite continued to stare at the ground lost in his own grief for the death of Kaito.

The silence filled the area; Infinite silently got to his feet. The jackal silently levitated into the air raising a hand forming a small black portal in the middle of the city backing away from it.

"What the heck is that?" Vector queried with unease at the small portal forming in the air. The force of the wind picked up almost dragging the crocodile forward. Vector lunged for Chaser grabbing on the coyote's wrist pulling him back.

"This is Null Space," Infinite replied. "It is a pocket dimension where nothingness exists. I've lost a brother, and it's only fair that Mikhail loses his. It's also where Gadget and will fight until one of us comes back out alive."

Mikhail froze in terror. Gadget took several steps back, but Infinite made a sudden dive grabbing on Gadget's wrist hosting him up in the air holding tightly on Gadget heading towards the portal not even looking back aware of Mikhail's angry shout.

"Gadget! Give him back!"

Mikhail ran his breath coming out in short gasps seeing Infinite tighten his hold on Gadget backing away into the hole. Vector held onto a small pole keeping a tight grip on Chaser preventing the Coyote from getting sucked into the strange portal along with Gadget. Chaser, in turn, grabbed on Mikhail's tail holding him back ignoring Mikhail's frantic shouts to let him go.

"Mikhail, no! Get back You'll get sucked in too!"

Sonic arrived on the scene registering the scene unfolding in front of him. The hedgehog gritted his teeth running even quicker. Gadget struggled against Infinite's tight grip to no avail; the portal then closed with both Gadget and Infinite in it.

"No!" Gadget!"

Mikhail broke away from Chaser's grip running over to where the portal once had been pounding his fists on the ground screaming in pure anguish and grief. The young hybrid struck the concrete ground with his fists not caring about the pain emitting from his hands. Sonic hurried over to Mikhail dropping to his knees, wrapping his arms around Mikhail.

"I'm sorry Gadget," Mikhail whispered his tone somber. Mikhail's heartbreaking from losing Gadget. "I've failed you Gadget. I'm the worst half-brother in the world."

"You're not the worse Half brother in the world," Sonic reassured Mikhail placing a gentle hand on the hybrid's shoulder. "We'll find a way to get Gadget back, and we'll find out what this Null Space is."

"I think that Infinite called it a dimension of nothingness," Vector said getting up releasing his hold on the pillar.

"Man I wish that Tails was with us right now," Sonic replied tiredly keeping an arm around Mikhail's shoulders."He would find a way to figure out Null Space." At the moment the only thing that the small group could do was to hope that Gadget would be able to hold his own against Infinite.

* * *

Countdown to Eggman's plan 39 hours remaining.

Tails' team weaved in and out of the tightly packed alleyway running towards the generator. The distant roars of the Infinite clones echoed off somewhere in the distance Thankfully the path to the generator mostly had been clear, and after witnessing the horrors of hearing the screams coming from the citizens, the small group made their way to the generator.

On occasion, a faint scream echoed in the distance. Tails and Amy visibly flinched spying out the faint outline of the Infinite clone destroying a bridge, causing them both to shudder. Amy reached forward for Tails' hand as the fox slipped his hand in hers, giving her a small reassuring squeeze. Neither of them could afford to panic now.

"I think that we're in the clear," Sahara said looking around pointing her Wispon at her surroundings. "I don't see anyone that's lurking around here."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Tails said calmly. Eggman's bound to be around here somewhere."

A shadow fell over the group hearing Eggman's chuckle. The Egg Mobile slowly lowered from the sky. Eggman sat leaning back the self-satisfied smile on his face with three jackals balanced on the Egg Mobile their weapons drawn small low snarls on their face.

"Well look at this, some of my soon to be eradicated enemies all here in one place," Eggman taunted them pulling on one end of the mustache. "You didn't think that I would be so foolish as to leave the power source to one the Phantom Ruby unguarded did you?"

"No, we didn't, but we do know everything about the Phantom Ruby!" Tails cried out in defiance. "If you think that we're going to surrender, then you're wrong."

"That would be worth seeing. I'd love to stay and chat, but I have a Resistance to wipe out," Eggman replied the broad sinister smile mockingly never leaving his face. "In the meantime, you can play with these three jackals that I brought with me. They're eager to get to know you."

At Eggman's words, Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys leaped off the edge of the Egg Mobile landing on the ground watching their master speed away into the distance. All three jackals took a few minutes to observe Tails' group. Saber took several steps forward hefting the tomahawk of his shoulder taking several strides towards Tails.

"It did get a little boring watching over Sunset Heights," Saber said. "If you step down now, we'll let you live."

"Who the heck are you guys?" Amy asked readying her Piko Piko Hammer with Tails crouching down getting ready to fight with Sahara, Espio and Rouge getting into a battle position to attack their enemies.

"We're the Phantom Jackals. Allies to the Eggman Empire." Quartz sneered. "That monster may not be here with you, but you're still fair game."

The three jackals closed in on the small group of Mobians. Rouge smirked making eye contact with Nephthys. The female jackal bristled slowly withdrawing her dagger the small cruel smirk on her face made it clear there would be no mercy this time.

"We're not going to back down now," Tails said. The distant roar in the distance reminded the young fox why they'd come here despite their mission failing. No one in the small group would back down from the fight even if meant they sacrificed their lives to free Mobius from Eggman's tyranny.

* * *

 _Author's note._ Gadget _is still alive, he's not dead, but considering that he is now trapped in Null Space with Infinite that may change quickly._

 _Kaito is not dead, he barely escaped the collapsing building before it came crashing down, but having everyone else believe that he is dead added in some emotional impact and Infinite believing that his half-brother is dead was one of my favorite moments to write in this story. There is going to be a reunion for a certain group and it's not going to end well._

 _Whew now this was an intense chapter to write since I loved the concept of Null Space and it was one of my favorite levels, but it's a real shame that it didn't reach its full potential and there I wanted to do a battle with Infinite in Null Space. There is some concept art hinting that Infinite was planned to be boss battle, and I do have plans to expand upon Null Space. All I can say about the next chapter is Gadget is going to be in a desperate situation._

 _The scene where Sonic gives encouragement to the avatar is a moment I liked a lot, but it should've been a scene with the Avatar opening up to Sonic, about their fear of Infinite, and Sonic encourages them not to let their fear take control of them, and I wanted to expand on that scene._

 _If anyone's wondering how Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys got to Metropolis is because Eggman realized he possibly would need to bring reinforcements to protect the generator, and the former mercenaries oversaw Eggman's forces in Sunset Heights until he brought them to Metropolis._

 _As per usual constructive criticism, thoughts and reviews are welcomed and appreciated, and I will talk to you guys again with the conclusion to the Operation Big Wave Arc._


	24. Operation Big Wave part three

_Author's note_

 _I'm sorry for the slight delay life was hectic yesterday, and I'm back now with a new chapter for you all._

 _Something I forgot to mention in the last chapter is that we are now over the halfway point of this story and I never thought that I would have over 170 reviews for it and thank you so much for leaving a fave follow or even viewing this story you have my genuine thanks for the support._

 _I can't believe that this story has 25 follows already thank you all so much._

 _As always a thank you to The GameNGuyener, SpiderDom321, AlexrandriaPrime, YamiChaos27, KeybladeWriter of the Dawn, Black TwilightWolf, bajy, Pyrein, SharpDragonKlaw, and the Mystery Guest._

 _Kaito is very much alive since he escaped before the building collapsed and he'll encounter Zerinn at some point. The fight against Phantom Metal Sonic I had to include some CD and Generations references in that fight. Knuckles is starting to realize that he's made a mistake and he is going to be facing some not so happy resistance members for his role in Operation Big Wave._

 _Without further ado let's dive on into the conclusion of the Operation Big Wave Arc._

 _Disclaimer I don't own any rights to the characters and games since they are copyrighted to Sega_

* * *

Darkness, followed by an indescribable ringing. Gadget let out low moan ears twitching ever so slightly. The wolf regained consciousness only to be greeted by the sight of a black void stretching out for miles all around him. The wolf took several uneasy steps forward. Gadget glanced down at his feet at the long road of purple cubes underneath his feet. The sight almost was surreal in that moment Gadget fought to keep his growing unease with his surroundings at bay.

"Where am I?"

At that moment, the wolf knew he shouldn't be here. All he could do for now was to keep running. The atmosphere felt almost suffocating. A flicker of magenta energy drew his eyes seeing the flash of a white-tipped tail. The rush of memories reminded the wolf how he'd ended up in Null Space. A building lay in ruins. He recalled seeing Infinite on his hands and knees clawing through the wreckage screaming Kaito's name. Infinite screaming in pure rage and grief before grabbing Gadget carrying him into the strange black portal the wind rushing past his ears then silence.

Gadget felt the panic rising in his chest realizing that he was in Null Space alone with Infinite. Gadget swallowed his anxiety beginning to build up in his chest. The jackal no doubt would be observing him somewhere within Null Space. The rush of a red wave along with the indescribable noise sent a chill of unease down Gadget's spine. The fear was rising in his body looking frantically for a way out of this bizarre dimension where there would be no escape.

"Hey, Gadget!"

Gadget felt his heart stop at that moment. That voice couldn't be. Gadget turned on his heel to see Rusell waving at him the small smile plastered on his face. The warmth in his hazel eyes seemed reassuring to Gadget. The wolf swallowed in a mixture of nervousness and longing. The bitter sting of tears pricking at the corner of his eyelids reminded the wolf of the crushing emotional guilt he'd felt watching his friends die on that day when Infinite invaded Redgate City a little over four months ago.

"Russell?!"

Gadget hurried over to Russell's location. Upon closer inspection Gadget realized Russel wasn't alone. Aria, Ian, Tyson, and Mary stood gathered together sporting smiles in relief at seeing Gadget. The wolf raced towards them the small smile on his face. Maybe the last six months had been an awful nightmare. A small part of Gadget wanted to believe his friends hadn't died, and they were back in Redgate City laughing, talking about the latest Chao in Space movie.

"No, this is an illusion," Gadget said coming to a stop the smile fading from his face. Russell was glitching out the small red cubes floating around the dog. "All of you died, and it's all my fault."

"You're right, Gadget we did die," Aria sneered the scowl appearing on her beak. "And it's all your fault."

Gadget froze seeing a group of five black and white shapes surrounding him. Fenrir stepped forward the friendly smile gone from his muzzle. The wolf gasped in horror seeing the two gaping holes leaking blood from Fenrir's chest. Roscoe, Blade, and Iris glared at him. All three of them had deep cuts on their necks, blood gushing out staining their black and white fur a deep red.

"Yeah, it's all because you refused to do a thing to save your friends," Fenrir sneered with a hostile tone. "You're nothing, but a weak coward."

Gadget gazed around at the small hostile crowd spying the gleam of the grey mask. Infinite threw another ball of energy at Gadget ducking out of the way at the last moment.

"How dare you use those memories of my friends against me!" Gadget screamed in anger his blood boiling. "You're nothing, but a sick monster!"

Infinite readied several blasts shot over Gadget's head the wolf forced himself to move to see Infinite charging down at his hands raised. The single eye behind the mask narrowed. The wolf put on a burst of speed raising the Cube Wispon slamming it down on the ground the force of the impact destroyed a part of the cube pathway as Infinite avoided the blow.

"Zerinn, please you have to stop this!" Gadget begged a panicked look on his face. "The Phantom Ruby is screwing with your mind, and you need to snap out of it!"

"Zerinn has been dead for six months now," Infinite responded aggressively. "Stop referring to me as that pathetic jackal!"

The wolf raced forward with the Cube Wispon raised high. The wolf landed several strong hits on the jackal. Infinite wincing shot away from the Wispon lunging for Gadget his fingers wrapping around the thick leather of the utility belt. In a single movement, Infinite turned the terrified wolf around to face raising his claws about to strike his face. Infinite kneeled Gadget in the chest sending him crumpling to the ground as the illusionary jackal squad and his group of friends rushed in delivering kicks and punches to the young wolf.

"You're weak and pathetic," Infinite spoke hovering there the red wave of energy washed over the area. Gadget opened his eyes lifting his head seeing several cannons pointed at Gadget. "Soon this will be goodbye."

Gadget dimly heard the blasts of energy racing towards him. The wolf closed his eyes waiting for the end. At that moment the wolf's fingers brushed the surface of the Phantom Ruby prototype. The magenta wave washed over the area, quickly followed by the dull booms echoing off against the ground. Gadget slowly opened his eyes. The illusions of Gadget's friends and the Jackal Squad vanished in a shower of red cubes.

A chance for Gadget to escape also appeared right before the wolf in the form of a small portal. Gadget's heart soared at the bright blue inviting sky.

"No, how is this possible?" Infinite asked befuddlement in his tone lifting a hand to his chin. "There's only one thing that could've done this. But that's not possible, and I disposed of all of the Prototypes."

The jackal's gaze zeroed in on the Phantom Ruby prototype clenched tightly between Gadget's fingers. Infinite flexed his fingers under his mask the small, grim smile appeared.

"Ah, so it appears that there was one prototype left," Infinite spoke softly. "No matter, I'll have to pry it from your cold dead fingers."

Gadget clenched his teeth tucking the Phantom Ruby prototype away in the small pocket on his utility belt. Infinite charged for him again this time the wolf was ready for Infinite's assault. With a yell, Gadget landed a successful blow on Infinite's side hearing the jackal cry out in pain.

"You'll pay for that insect," Infinite growled recovering from the blow. "I'll reclaim that Phantom Ruby prototype even if I have to wrench it from your cold dead fingers!"

Infinite made a second charge for Gadget. The wolf ducked at the last second the whoosh of air rushing by his ear where he noticed Infinite's next few attacks were out of desperation.

The wolf seized his chance to escape Null space, his breath coming out in short gasps pressing two of his fingers against the mic attached to his headset turning it on.

"Sonic! I'm still alive, but I'm trapped in here with Infinite," Gadget said breathlessly seeing from the corner of his eye Infinite resuming his pursuit of him. "Infinite is after the Phantom Ruby Prototype, and he can't have it. Please come and get me!"

Gadget risked a glance to see the distinct sheen of sweat on Infinite's fur. The jackal continued to pursue Gadget determined to regain the Phantom Ruby prototype.

* * *

Sonic paced back and forth on the rough asphalt looking up at the sky where Gadget vanished along with Infinite then down at the small comm unit Chaser gave him wordlessly hearing nothing, but static crackling through the comm unit where Knuckles' voice crackled through the intercom.

Mikhail remained in his kneeling position with Vector awkwardly resting a hand on Mikhail's back speaking to him in a low unusually gentle tone.

"Everyone is to fall back at once, head to the Resistance ship parked at the entrance of Metropolis," Knuckles said sounding tired and exhausted. "Operation Big Wave is a failure. We've lost 80% of our forces, and we're aiding G.U.N in evacuating whatever citizens we can save."

"I can't believe we lost so many more lives," Sonic said somberly "That's not all, Infinite nabbed Gadget and I haven't heard anything at all from Tails' team. We're not leaving Tails and Gadget behind."

Before Knuckles had time to process Sonic's words, something unexpected occurred. To everyone's amazement, the portal to Null Space reopened along with a Gadget's frantic voice coming over the intercom.

"I see an exit, but Infinite's right on my tail," Gadget's breathless voice crackled through the static.

"Hang in there Gadget I'm coming!"

Sonic broke into a run ignoring the explosions from up above looking up to see the fleet of Resistance ships engaging in battle with Eggman's fleet. Sonic ignored the shouts of caution from Chaser, Mikhail, and Vector leaping into the dark prison. The look of relief on Gadget's face as he reached out with his hand feeling Sonic grabbing onto his hand flashing him a small reassuring smile.

"Don't worry Gadget; I've got you," Sonic said reassuring the young wolf. "Mikhail is worried sick about you. Let's see if we can reunite the two of you."

Sonic frowned seeing Infinite racing ahead landing in front of the entrance of the portal holding his hands out small red orbs in the palm of his hands getting ready to throw them his tail swishing from side to side making one last stand to prevent both Sonic and Gadget from leaving Null Space.

"Yeah. let's go back to our friends!"

This time Gadget was prepared for the rush of speed recalling the last time he'd experienced the Double Boost racing up the side of Arsenal Pyramid the world blurring around them. Sonic and Gadget collided with Infinite. The force of the impact knocked the jackal through the portal the three of them landed on the hard ground.

Sonic and Gadget skidded across the ground. Gadget looked down at the Phantom Ruby Prototype. The surface of the gem bore a few cracks. The next thing Gadget experienced was Mikhail pulling Gadget into his arms, tears pouring down his face.

"Gadget, I thought that I'd lost you," Mikhail sobbed softly holding Gadget tightly. "I thought that monster killed you."

"Infinite nearly did, but you're not the worst half-brother in the world," Gadget replied warmly hugging Mikhail close to him. The two half-brothers broke away with small warm smiles on their faces. Their reunion was interrupted by Infinite slowly getting up to his feet the ball of red energy flickering in the palm of his hand.

Before Infinite could react, Vector landed on top of Infinite pinning him down. Chaser smirking pointed the Void Wispon at Infinite. Sonic approached them, noticing the Egg Mobile hovering over the area with Eggman leaning over the edge of the Egg mobile sneering down at his second in command pinned to the ground trying to get to his feet.

"So, then how do you want to take this pounding, you masked monster?" Vector asked with a grin. "One punch to that ugly masked face or do you want two?"

"Infinite, fall back now!" Eggman's shout directed at Infinite, the scowl forming on his face. "We've wiped out most of the Resistance, and there's no way that Sonic and that wolf should have been able to escape from Null Space, but that doesn't matter now."

Eggman's statement appeared to displease Infinite who snarled summoning up all of his might pushing Vector of his back. Freed from the crocodile's weight Infinite levitated up to Eggman folding his arms across his chest. The tension in the air crackled between Eggman and Infinite. The members of the Resistance noticed the tense exchange between Eggman and his second in command.

"I am not about to run away with my tail between my legs," Infinite spoke in a low, menacing tone adjusting his mask. "We should finish off the Resistance while we still have the advantage. Besides that wolf he has -"

"I don't want to hear your excuses Infinite," Eggman rebuked cutting of Infinite's sentence. "Just shut up, and we'll wipe out the Resistance at Mt. Yuji, in a little over two days time, and I think that you can wait until then. It will be a glorious beginning to the rise of the Eggman Empire!"

Without waiting for Infinite to respond Eggman took off into the distance. Infinite shot one last loaded glare at the Resistance before he took off after Eggman vanishing into the distance. Gadget heaved out a low sigh of relief.

"Come on, Knux said that we're falling back," Sonic replied grimly. "We need to find Tails and get out of here."

The Resistance nodded heading back into the city while Sonic relieved Gadget was safe and his thoughts turned to Tails spying the massive Infinite Clones in the distance letting out unearthly roars, and he didn't want to think about the death toll when this whole ordeal was over.

* * *

Countdown to Eggman's plan 36 hours remaining.

Meanwhile, Tails winced feeling the blast red energy slamming into him almost knocking him off his feet. The short jackal shot a condescending look at Tails the small smirk gracing his face. Saber was quickly circling Tails the small smile never leaving his face. Tails attempted to attack Saber with his tails, but the jackal ducked out of the way chuckling in amusement.

"Give up little fox, this place is not for children," Saber said with a smirk on his face. The jackal ran a critical eye over Tails. "If you surrender, I'm sure that Eggman would place you in nice comfortable cells."

Tails chose not to respond. The weight of the small explosives resting in the fox's hands reminded Tails of the mission they'd come here to do. The only thing standing between them and crippling the Phantom Ruby were the three jackals. Saber took a step forward breaking into a run raising the tomahawk up high. The fox saw the attack coming avoiding it at the last second hearing it slams into the ground sending up small debris flying into the air.

"I may be a kid, and that must make you one too," Tails called out seeing the faint tinge of red appear on Saber's face the jackal gripped his tomahawk between his fingers his knuckles turning white. "You do look a little short to be a mercenary."

"Don't call me short!" Saber screamed in pure rage. The jackal charged at Tails hefting the weapon his lips curled back in a snarl. "I'll cut off your hands and feet and stick them on your head!"

Tails took the chance to trip up Saber the jackal landed on his face. Tails seized the opportunity running forward with the explosives in his hands heading towards the generator slapping the small device on it rapidly pressing in a few keys setting the countdown clock to five minutes. Tails hoped it would give them all plenty of time to fall back and to get out of the blast radius.

"What did you do?!"

Saber froze a look of horror on his face taking in the sight of the small timer on the explosives beginning the countdown. The leader of the Jackal Squad looked over at both Quartz and Nephthys engaging in their fights. Amy slammed her hammer on Quartz's tail hearing him yelp in pain. Saber growled realizing the peril that Quartz and Nephthys and himself happened to be in at the moment.

"I would suggest getting out of the blast radius as soon as you can," Tails said smirking looking over at Saber. "That generator is going to be blown sky high if you don't run."

"So, I hear from the good doctor that you call yourself Sonic's girlfriend huh?" Quartz sneered the small teasing smirk on his face. "No wonder if he runs away from you all of the time."

"Of course I do, but he is a friend, and he'll defeat Eggman!"

Rouge and Nephthys circled each other the latter had a nasty grin on her face fingering the small dagger between her fingers. Rouge narrowed her eyes. The jackal was looking for a fight to get revenge against Rouge for the last time they'd encountered each other in Sunset Heights.

"So, I don't see your little hedgehog boyfriend," Nephthys sneered. "You got lucky the last time we fought, this time you won't be."

"First of all honey, Shadow is not my boyfriend," Rouge spoke lunging with a couple of kicks the first one landing on Nephthys' jaw knocking her back. "I'm a well-trained spy, and I don't need his back up all the time. Especially against a lowly mercenary."

Nephthys scowled. Saber let out a shout catching his teammates' attention. The shortest member of the Jackal Squad bore a few cuts on his body the small scowl never leaving his face.

"Jackal Squad we need to fall back now!" Saber called out gesturing with his tomahawk at the explosives. "Unless we want to get blown to pieces, we need to move!"

Quartz and Nephthys looked over at the explosive device on the generator. At that moment the full realization sunk in realizing that if they didn't run for it, they would die. The jackals abandoned the battle sprinting away from the generator with Nephthys shooting one last scowl over her shoulder. The three jackals vanished into the distance running away to put as much distance between them and the explosion as they could.

"I'm not sure that setting the device to go in less than five minutes was wise," Espio said frowning. "It won't give us enough time to escape."

"I was bluffing about the part where it's set to go off in five minutes," Tails replied smiling making sure none of the three jackals overheard him. "I only said that to trick the Phantom Jackals. I set the device to go off in ten minutes, but we really shouldn't be here."

At Tails' words, the small group of Mobians sprinted away from the generator. The small group kept running for several minutes away from the generator, and their path happened to take them across a bridge.

"Guys look out!" Amy warned everyone else in the group "One of those Infinite clones is right above us!"

Everyone looked up to see Infinite clone rearing its massive head over the structure. The monster observed them gauging their terrified reactions. The Infinite clone raised its hand preparing to swipe at the bridge sending everyone on it plummeting to their deaths.

"Run! Get off the bridge before that thing attacks it now!"

Sonic's yell cut through the air as everyone broke into a run narrowly getting off the bridge in time the Infinite clone's hand slammed through the structure destroying it sending a shower of glass, concrete, and metal plummeting through the clouds.

"Looks like we got here in time!"

Sonic turned in relief to see Tails panting ever so slightly. The Infinite clone turned its head fixing its gaze on the small group of Mobians.

"Did you set the explosives?"

Tails smiled in response to Sonic's question holding up his right hand with all five of his fingers slowly extended.

"Of course I did," Tails said smiling. "If my calculations are correct, then the explosives I set should go off in five, four, three, two, one."

At the end of Tails' sentence, a dull boom ripped through the area where the generator was and in an instant, the giant Infinite clones began to glitch out before they vanished the effects of the Phantom Ruby wiped out for a few tired cheers erupted around the small group.

"That was fantastic Tails!" Amy smiled shaking Tails' hand. "You were amazing."

"Man, first we take out the Arsenal Pyramid, and now the Phantom Ruby's crippled. Gadget also gave Infinite a good butt kicking while trapped in Null Space. If he keeps this up, I guess that we can't call Gadget the rookie anymore."

Gadget smiled hearing the praise from Sonic while Mikhail patted him gently on his shoulder making eye contact with his half-brother silently saying he was proud of him.

"That may be, but we lost, so many lives to a poorly executed plan," Silver said somberly. "We need to hold a funeral for the fallen when we get back to Angel Island."

Silver's words sucked the brief elation out of the group. All of them hung their heads in mourning for the loss of their comrades. Knuckles flinched slightly looking at the devastation.

"We will hold a funeral I promise you all," Knuckles said firmly. "Right now we need to get back to Angel Island." The group nodded in agreement heading in the direction of where the Resistance ship was parked. The Resistance members said nothing running back to their one transport to safety.

* * *

Countdown to Eggman's plan 34 hours remaining.

Sonic's, Gadget's and Tails' groups met up together running towards the ground where the large Resistance ship rested on the ground its rear hatch door open with Kaito pacing back and forth on the inside keeping an eye out for the members of the Resistance. Kaito limped painfully away from the docking bay pausing to look over the edge of the platform. Kaito spied three black and white shapes on one of the lower pathways heading away from Metropolis.

"So, is there any sign of them yet?"

The news that Kaito is still alive was good news to the surviving members of the Resistance. Upon seeing the jackal carried by a G.U.N Solider to the Resistance ship. Kaito had been greeted warmly with the Resistance welcoming Kaito back into their fold. The young jackal propped himself up with a hand on the wall his eyes searching out for any signs of the approaching the Resistance members.

"Please let them be safe," Kaito said a slight hint of anger in his voice looking over at the GU.N Solider. "We've lost a lot of people. I don't know why you launched a full frontal assault on Metropolis like this, but it was not worth the risk."

After a few moments, the sound of footsteps echoed off the white pathways with all three teams racing towards the ship with Knuckles, Sonic and Shadow in the lead.

"We're here!" Knuckles called out. "Operation Big Wave has failed. We're heading back to Angel Island now!"

Sonic smiled tiredly after hearing the cheers from the survivors the crucial members of the Resistance were still alive. The three groups ran into the docking bay with a small whoosh the doors raised sealing the Resistance in the docking bay. The distant hum of the engines of the ship cut through the air.; Sonic hurried over to the window looking down at the few G.U.N fighter jets flying alongside their fleet.

"We lost a lot of lives today," Sahara spoke her voice on the verge of cracking. "The Commander should've put some more care into this plan."

Sonic looked down at the cityscape at the sight of several ships of their fleet and Eggman's fleet lay burning in the wrecked cityscape beneath their feet. Several G.U.N fighter jets lay burning in the streets reminding everyone on board the ship of the high death toll from both the Resistance and G.U.N'S joint forces.

Team Dark stood off to the side in silence. Most of the survivors openly wept for the loss of their comrades. So many brave men and women had lost their lives in the botched plan and Gadget, Mikhail and Chaser stood together at one of the portholes overlooking the devastation.

"We've lost a lot of good men and women to this mission," Chaser snarled. "The Commander was an idiot, and we couldn't save Kaito and what if we can't save Mobius?"

"Oh, that's nice of you to think that I'm dead without having any proof guys."

Gadget and Mikhail hurried over to Kaito wrapping their arms around the jackal drawing him into a gentle embrace. Tears of relief running down their faces feeling Kaito wrap his arms around them hugging his adoptive brothers back the smiles never left their faces.

"Kaito, you're safe," Mikhail sobbed gently. "We saw that collapsed building, and we thought you died."

"I nearly did," Kaito replied wincing slightly from the bandages wrapped around his chest. "One of those giant Infinite things attacked the building. I barely got out in time, and G.U.N brought me here."

"Kaito," Gadget said noticing for the first time the bandages wrapped around Kaito's chest. "What happened to your Phantom Ruby fragment?"

"It's a long story, and I'll tell you when we get back to Angel Island," Kaito replied. The jackal's eyes began to close. "I'm a little a tired right now."

Gadget nodded settling next to Kaito allowing the tired jackal to rest his head on Gadget's shoulder. Chaser got up from his position returning with a small blanket draping it across Kaito's chest making sure the jackal was comfortable. Sonic's sharp whistle catching everyone's attention broke the brief moment of happiness. The silence fell over the docking bay.

Knuckles swallowed feeling tense and instinctively clenching both of his fists in case of a fight broke out. The Guardian noticed the waves of hostility washing over the room aimed at the echidna.

"We will hold a funeral for brave men and women of the Resistance who fell in battle today," Knuckles spoke his voice loud and clear. "I know that things didn't go quite to plan, and some mistakes occurred today. However, I promise that we will win this war."

The words felt hollow to Knuckles, and the angry muttering in the docking bay began to rise like a furious storm. Angry voices started to increase the Resistance members unleashing their anger born out of grief.

"Yeah right, How can we trust the words of someone who comes up with a plan in a minute and a half?" The speaker was a brown cat her tail swishing from side to side angrily.

"I know, and I let you all down," Knuckles said. "I'm sorry that we lost so many, and it won't happen again."

More angry shouts filled the docking bay drowning out whatever Knuckles had been about to say next until several loud bangs going off in the docking bay. Startled by the noise everyone glanced at the ceiling to see several small bullet holes in the roof of the ship with Omega slowly lowering his arm. Silver made his way towards Knuckles' location holding his hands out for silence.

"Sensors show that the most effective way to gain crowd silence is to blow a hole in the roof," Omega spoke. "This tactic appears to have worked."

"Please listen to me!" Silver called out his voice echoing across the large Docking bay. "I know that you're angry at how Operation Big Wave turned out. I can understand your grief for the loss of your comrades."

"I agree with Silver," Amy spoke up standing next to Silver." Now is not the time to be angry. For now, our attention should be on burying our dead and honoring their memory. We cannot let their deaths be in vain."

Mutters of agreement filled the area the small Resistance group nodded some of them turning back to sit on the beaches lost in their grief. Sonic came up to Silver and Amy the forced smile on his face.

"That was a good speech Silver," Sonic said sighing. "It seems to have calmed everyone down for the moment, and I'm sure that we can still win this war."

"Thank you Sonic," Silver responded tiredly looking out over the crowd. "I'm an optimist, but I'm also a realist. We can't give up, but for now, we need time to heal and regroup."

Silver let out a low sigh letting his head drop in his hands sobbing softly. Sonic and Amy sat in silence on both sides of Silver placing a hand on his back. No one felt like talking in the tense moment. The ride back to Angel Island would be rigid and silent.

Meanwhile far down below on the ground, the small golden flowers whose petals shone so brightly fell off the stem. The flowers withered signaling that the citizens of Mobius lost hope that they would ever be free of Eggman's tyranny.

* * *

 _Author's note. There it is the conclusion to the Operation Big Wave three-parter. Honestly, these three chapters consisting of Operation Big Wave were some of my favorites to write out. I hoped that people enjoyed the conclusion and having Gadget fighting Infinite in Null Space is in fact based of some scrapped concept art suggesting that the final Infinite boss fight would've been in Null Space and it was the inspiration behind the Gadget and Infinite's second clash with each other._

 _I haven't forgotten about the roboticized Mobians as I'm saving them for later on in the story. A lot went on in this chapter. The Resistance has suffered heavy losses which will lead to a loss of morale._

 _Also, I found it odd in the game that Knuckles wasn't called out on his poor decision making which led to over three-quarters of the Resistance killed and no one called him out on it. The Resistance is going to doubt how well-suited Knuckles is to be the leader of the Resistance and Knuckles will have to regain the trust of the Resistance._

 _Now on the note of Eggman's and Infinite's partnership starting to come apart. Infinite is angry at Eggman for choosing to run away when they had several key members of the Resistance in their sights. Eggman wants to finish the Resistance off at Mt. Yuji, but Infinite views Eggman's choice to run as cowardice and all I can say for later chapters the tension between these two will grow._

 _As per usual constructive criticisms/thoughts and reviews are welcomed and appreciated, and the next chapter will be here hopefully soon._


	25. Operation Big Wave Aftermath

_Author's note. Hello, again I am back once more with a new chapter for you guys and girls to enjoy._

 _I want to give both a shout out and a thank you to TelethoASupreme, and singsong182 for leaving a favorite on this story thank you both so much._

 _So, then like usual a big thank you to TGN, SD321, bajy, Turquoise Triangle, YamiChaos 27, AlexrandriaPrime, KeybladeWriter of the Dawn, SharpDragonKlaw, and Mr. SwitchBoy and thank you all so much for sticking with this story, and I genuinely appreciate both your feedback and support._

 _Disclaimer I do not own anything in Sonic the Hedgehog. It is the intellectual property of Sega. The only aspects I can claim are the plot of this story and my Original characters._

 _Well without any further delay let's head into chapter 25._

* * *

Countdown to Eggman's plan 32 hours remaining.

The early evening sun shone overhead on Park Avenue when the Resistance's fleet landed in the fields north of the site where Eggman had begun his conquest of Mobius a little over six months ago. The surviving Resistance members departed the ship carrying ten bodies they'd been able to recover from the battlefield.

In silence, they had set a few hastily made tables up decorated with several lit candles along with any photos of the deceased members handed to the Resistance by grieving friends and family members. Gadget risked a glance at the table the lump forming in his throat. The wolf noticed most of the survivors sobbed raising their hands to wipe away the tears running down their faces in mourning for the deaths of their loved ones.

Most of the Resistance members stood in two lines bowed in grief. Sonic, Shadow, Vector, Rouge, Espio, Chaser and Sahara walked in between the two rows carrying the bodies wrapped in white blankets. The bright red giant stars stood out against the white sheets with a small gold medal pinned tightly to the blankets. Everyone in the Resistance agreed that they should bury the deceased with the highest honors.

Kaito, Mikhail, Tails, Gadget, and Amy wept openly with the other survivors of the Resistance mourning the deaths of their comrades. Knuckles walked to the small platform hastily set up only for Silver reaching out to the echidna speaking to him in low tones. Knuckles opened his mouth to protest but stood off to the side reluctantly.

Most of the Resistance members leveled venomous glares bristling at the sight of the echinda, the one who sent so many of their comrades to die a horrible death all because of a poorly thought out plan.

"Silver, it was my fault they died," Knuckles protested weakly. "The least I can do is to give them a send-off."

"They're still angry with you, Commander," Silver replied in a firm tone. "It will take time for them to forgive you."

Silver stood on a small platform taking in the sight of the open graves the bodies lowered into the graves. Silver silently looked down at his hands gripping the podium inhaling to calm himself. The combined stress and grief of the moment crashed down on the telekinetic hedgehog. So many Mobians looked back at him. The G.U.N forces headed back to their new headquarters situated somewhere in Empire City to host their funeral for the men and women lost in today's mission.

"There is no doubt that the men and women who lost their lives in Operation Big wave today, fought with courage," Silver raised his voice reverberating around the clearing making sure that everyone in the area heard his words. "We've fought alongside them for the last six months, and, we will never forget them for their courage, and they will be buried with the Golden hedgehog, the highest medal of honor the Resistance gives out for acts of true bravery."

Silver raised his hand. At his signal, the Resistance members raised their Wispons into the air firing of a salute. Then the first clod of soil was thrown into the pit. The sound of the dirt clod hitting the white cloth was sobering. The process of burying the dead took an hour as the last of bodies were lowered into the graves. The small photos embedded into the soil as makeshift tombstones. The Resistance made their way back as Gadget and Mikhail hurried over to five more graves the two half-brothers stood in silence.

"I can't believe Aria, Tyson, Russell, Mary, and Ian are dead," Mikhail spoke his eyes watering with tears. The young hybrid kneeled down placing a small flower on the soft soil of Russell's grave. "How can we even forgive Zerinn for what's he done?"

Gadget hesitated to answer opting to fiddle with the rough leather on his glove. All Gadget could do was swallow nervously remembering all the good times he'd had with Zerinn, but those times were gone, and Gadget closed his eyes fighting past the lump in his throat. Zerinn was dead and gone. Nothing would ever be the same again, and the wolf let out a low breath before he turned to face Mikhail with a cold look in his eyes.

"The next time we meet, I'll kill Infinite," Gadget said wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. "He used the image of Russell and everyone else to hurt me when he trapped me in Null Space. Infinite is a cruel, sadistic monster."

The wolf wanted nothing more than to reach out for the Phantom Ruby on Infinite's chest and rip it off him, and even then it still wouldn't be enough. Gadget and Mikhail walked back along with several more members in silence. Gadget saw Kaito standing at the entrance to the ship waiting for them with a tense frown on his face. Gadget wondered if the jackal had overheard any part of their conversation.

The three of them headed to a corner of the ship away from anyone else who might want to hear what the jackal had to say. Gadget placed an arm around Kaito helping him sit down with Mikhail sitting on his left side. For a few minutes, the three of them sat together in an uncomfortable silence.

"I'll tell you how I lost my fragment of the Phantom Ruby," Kaito replied. "When Infinite captured me back in Mystic Jungle, Eggman decided that I wasn't worthy of the power of the Phantom Ruby and Metal Sonic ripped it out of my chest."

"That's awful Kaito, and I'm sure we'll win this war," Mikhail spoke patting Kaito on the shoulder. "If we fail then Eggman's truly best thing we can do right now is to hold on to what little hope we have left."

Kaito chose not to respond as the three of them watched the last few Resistance members trudging up the ramp of the ship entering it. The hum of the giant hatch to the back of the ship closed behind them. The Resistance's fleet continued their journey back to Angel Island with a resistance that lost all hope of winning this war.

* * *

Countdown to Eggman's plan 31 hours remaining.

The ship landed on Angel Island. Most of the Resistance shot glares at muttering in low tones. Knuckles ignored them making his way towards the Hidden Palace Zone entering it leading down the same pathway he took Sonic and Rouge down heading into the Hidden Palace Zone. The echinda paused hearing a pair of footsteps on the smooth steps. Most of the Resistance ventured out to reclaim their spare blankets and pillows opting to sleep in the large ship tonight not wanting to sleep in Mushroom Hill Zone.

"You don't mind if we join you Knuckles?"

Knuckles sighed turning around on his heel noticing Rouge and Sonic following him down the stairs. A pregnant pause filled the air before the guardian huffed in annoyance.

"Fine if you must, but I'm watching you Batgirl," Knuckles replied. "I'm not in a talking mood at the moment."

Knuckles resumed his walk down the stairs aware of Sonic and Rouge following him in silence until the three of them entered Hidden Palace. The echidna opened the way the trio walked into as Knuckles made his way towards a small brown sack resting on the ground picking it up holding on it the rough material in the palm of his hand.

"Look Knux, you can't beat yourself up for what happened with Operation Big Wave," Sonic spoke softly holding a hand up in a peaceful gesture. "I know that no one could have foreseen Infinite coming, and you needed to have a little m-"

Before the hedgehog could finish his sentence Rouge elbowed him sharply in the side ignoring the glare sent in her direction with Sonic forcing his quills to lie flat.

"Look honey, so I will admit that you blew it, but you shouldn't put yourself down like this," Rouge mumbled walking over to the echidna placing an arm around his shoulders. "Besides you hid two of the Chaos Emeralds away down here and can I see them?"

"No, you can't steal them Batgirl," Knuckles replied seeing the giant green Emerald still in its bed of crystals. The echidna walked up to the Master Emerald placing a hand on the cold surface seeing a flash of blue with blank green eyes staring back at him. The echidna felt reassured that at least Chaos was never on Eggman's side in the first place.

"Please I know that you're in there and we could use your help," Knuckles said with a heavy sigh. "Eggman has taken over the world. I have failed as a leader, and I have protected you for as long as I can remember after my parents passed from way doing their duty. Please, I need your help and guidance."

The silence hung over in the Master Emerald Chamber the single sound was the gentle hum of the giant emerald. For a few minutes, nothing happened, and a small pink light above the green emerald was taking the shape of a young echidna girl surrounded by a pink glow. The echinda girl wore the ancient tribal clothing from what appeared to be from the era of the ancient echidna tribe. White rings adorned her dreadlocks. Her deep blue gazed kindly at Sonic, Rouge, and Knuckles. Several ghostly Chao ran around her feet making a gentle cooing sound.

"Hello Sonic and Knuckles, it has been a long time since we last met," Tikal said softly hovering in the surveying the trio. "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to offer my help in this time of death and destruction. Chaos has become enraged that he a fake of him is being used to nothing, but despair, pain, and fear into the hearts of the people of Mobius."

"Well then, that's new," Rouge spoke up the small coy smile on her face. "That Master Emerald is full of surprises. I'd never imagined that it was the seal for an echidna girl."

"That's Tikal, she is a young girl who lived around four thousand years ago, and sacrificed herself to seal Chaos away," Sonic explained. "When Eggman freed Chaos, she helped us calm him down, and I went super to stop Chaos. Station Square almost ended up being wiped off the face of Mobius."

Tikal turned her head towards the source of the voice a small frown of confusion on her face looking down at the bat meeting her gaze the bat colly making eye contact with Tikal with a slight sly smile on her face.

"Ignore her Tikal," Knuckles broke the tense silence his voice heavy with emotion. "She's just an arrogant thief and not a lady as she claims to be."

The Guardian heard Rouge's irritated huff. Rouge folded her arms tapping her heel impatiently against the smooth cold tiles.

"Tikal we're facing a crisis," Knuckles spoke keeping his tone urgent and low. "Eggman somehow got a hold a gem called the Phantom Ruby. It's able to create a virtual reality that feels like it's real, but it's not. We attempted to storm Eggman's main base of operations, but it went wrong, and many people died because of me."

"Do not give up on what little hope that you have left Knuckles," Tikal said smiling a small soft smile. "It will take time for you to regain the trust of the Resistance and if you give up on hope, it is gone."

For a few moments, Knuckles hung his head low as Sonic and Rouge exchanged a look. A low thud caught their attention noticing the Master Emerald shook violently as though a considerable force slammed into it the emerald shifted violently on the bed of emerald green crystals.

A sudden force appeared to yank Tikal down forcefully. A gasp of shock escaped the echidna's lips. Something continued to tug her down. Sonic raced forwards along with Knuckles.

"I'm sorry if my advice wasn't much," Tikal cried out. "Chaos is becoming enraged once more. You have to stop the darkness. Remember always to hold on to hope even in the darkest of times."

With a bright flash, Tika vanished into the Master Emerald the bright green eyes stared out maliciously at the Resistance members before Chaos was tugged back by an unseen force as the giant green emerald came to a rest on the bed of crystals.

"Hey, Knux is Chaos trying to escape?"

Knuckles pressed a hand to the surface of the Master Emerald seeing Chaos writhing before the pink light floating closer to Chaos the gentle warmth from the light appeared to soothe the God of Destruction vanishing from sight. The guardian heaved out a sigh of relief the small smile never leaving his face.

Thank you, Tikal, for your advice.

"Tikal is right," Sonic said gently. "I know that things are bad right now, but we can't lose sight of hope. These things take time, and I'm sure that you'll be able to prove that can lead the Resistance. Besides, you'll have my support Knux, no matter what happens from this moment on."

"You have my support as well handsome," Rouge added in. "Sonic's right. You have been a good leader, and I will be with you until you regain the Resistance's trust."

Knuckles inhaled claiming himself turning around to face both Sonic and Rouge. The blue hedgehog flashed him a smile and a thumbs up in reassurance, and the gesture caused a small smile to appear on Knuckles' face. Rouge smiled softly at him. It was far different from her usual coy smiles as it seemed to be more genuine.

The bat cast her eyes towards the Master Emerald a small frown on her face shifting to worry at the giant green emerald.

"Is there any chance that the real Chaos could break out of the Master Emerald?"

Knuckles frowned looking back at the giant Emerald. At the moment the echidna couldn't explain the sense of dread at the moment. For now, it appeared that Tikal soothed Chaos for now, but a knot of worry formed in the echidna's stomach that sooner or later Chaos was going to escape the giant green Emerald. Knuckles blinked a couple of times that he thought he saw a tiny crack running along the surface of the Master Emerald.

"Rouge, Sonic I hope not," Knuckles replied trying to keep his voice calm. "We still need to stop Eggman's plan, and the last thing we need is the real Chaos causing problems. Form now on I promise to try at least to regain the Resistance's trust."

Knuckles saw the small, confident smile on Sonic's face seeing Rouge nod in agreement with Sonic's statement.

"Like I've said I would stand by you no matter what happens," Rouge said taking Knuckles' hands in her own. "No matter how valuable some gems are. It's a promise Knuckles."

Knuckles blushed slightly by the bat's touch. The two of them broke away from each other noticing Sonic standing there with a knowing smile on his face.

"Right uh, let's head back," Rouge said leading the way. Sonic walked by Knuckles the grin on her face.

"Admit it Knuckles you like her," Sonic said with a small grin on his face.

"No, I don't!" Knuckles growled in frustration. "Besides she's a reluctant friend that's all there is to it."

"If you say so Knuckles," Sonic said stifling a yawn. "We should get some rest before you know we save the world from whatever it is that Eggman's planning."

Knuckles nodded in agreement allowing Sonic to go ahead of him. The Guardian cast one last look back at the Master Emerald in silence before he followed both Sonic and Rouge up the stairs heading back to the ship hopefully to be able to get a good night's sleep.

As the doors closed behind them, no one noticed the small crack starting to grow along the surface of the green emerald. It was a bad omen for an event which would soon occur in the future at a time where no one would expect it.

* * *

Countdown to Eggman's plan remaining. 28 hours remaining.

Infinite stormed down the corridors leading to the meeting room his tail swishing back and forth. On the way back the jackal seethed with repressed fury. He'd been so close to wiping out the Resistance. Infinite spied the doctors' two helper robots scurrying out of his way raising a fist banging it on the heavy metallic door.

"Open this door at once Doctor!" Infinite bellowed in pure anger. "We need to discuss what happened today."

The door hissed open allowing Infinite stalked into the room, The first thing he noticed was that the room was pitch black and the rotund figure of Eggman stood there at the window his hands folded behind his back looking down over at Mortar Canyon the small frown never leaving his face.

"Ah Infinite, what brings you to my lair at this time of night?" There was a quiet menace to the question. Eggman turned around adjusting his glasses with his finger as he snapped his fingers the bright lights illuminated the room the jackal winced raising a hand to shield his single eye. "You should be resting since tomorrow is a big day, and three of my other volunteers are busy making preparations to make our conquest of Mobius official."

"We should have finished the Resistance in Metropolis," Infinite lashed out in anger his tail bristling. "They were at our mercy, and we should've finished them off!"

"It would've been no fun if the Resistance was eliminated before the climax of my plan," Eggman replied. "No, I want to see them squirm. Oh, right I remember you squirming seeing that weak squad of yours getting eliminated by Shadow. Oh, my condolences for the loss of your half-brother, come to think of it he was too weak to handle the power of the Phantom Ruby."

Infinite growled at Eggman's false sentiment the anger growing. The jackal's fingers were reaching for the Phantom Ruby Prototype. The tips of his claws were brushing against the surface of the gem. All Infinite could feel was the unbridled fury building up inside him.

"Oh, and by the way, I still remember the time you bled over my expensive floor," Eggman goaded Infinite. "Your weak blood soiled my floor, and I spent several days to cleaning it out of my expensive floor tiles."

Infinite screamed in rage at the word weak, raising his fingers brushing against the surface of the gem. What followed next was a sharp excruciating pain ripping right through his body. The red wave came from the Phantom Ruby slammed into Infinite. Infinite sank to the ground writhing in agony from the pain. The jackal saw a pair of black and silver boots, and he didn't have to look up to see the sneer on Kaito's face.

"Look at this my weak older half-brother lying on the ground like a kicked jackal child," Kaito sneered gleefully taking in the jackal's predicament.

Infinite stiffened Kaito wasn't alone, Images of Gadget and Shadow appeared alongside him. The wolf bore a smirk on his face looking down at Infinite with contempt.

"Look, at this the Ultimate Mercenary who can't even fight on his own," The illusion of Gadget spoke with a sneer in his voice. "You summoned up false illusions of my friends, and I still was able to beat you. You are the weakest being in all of Mobius."

In response, Infinite let out a scream of rage lunging for the illusion only for Shadow to tackle him to the ground kicking him several times.

"That was pathetic, just like your squad," Shadow sneered the small condescending smirk on his face. "No wonder half of them fell to me so easily. "You're not the Ultimate Mercenary. No, I believe that you are the weakest mercenary in Mobius."

The hedgehog darted forward lashing out at the jackal's wrists and ankles feeling the heat of the hover shoes raking away at his fur causing the jackal to throw back his head screaming in agony. Infinite curled up protecting his head. The masked jackal lay on the ground unable to stop the combined attack from the illusions. Infinite closed his eye in vain to drown out the word weak repeatedly uttered, and it made him want to scream.

Eggman watched the scene in silence before he removed his finger from the button. The illusions vanished leaving Infinite slumped to the ground. The heat from the hover jets burned away the fur on his wrists and ankles leaving bald spots. Infinite lay in the same position panting heavily. Infinite didn't move from his position trembling slightly.

"You traitor," Infinite wheezed trembling from the shock coming under attack from the false illusions of Kaito, Gadget, and Shadow. "How dare you'd be this disobedient."

A burst of maniacal laughter ripped from Eggman's throat. Infinite saw the genius bend over in a fit of insane giggles holding his hands over his stomach.

"Now that's funny that you were talking about disobedience when I told you to bring Shadow to the Death Egg," Eggman said all traces of good humor gone. "And then you left Sonic alive even though it caused us to lose the Arsenal Pyramid. The switch you see on my wrist can turn the Phantom Ruby's powers against you bringing your own worst fears to life."

Infinite made no response looking up at Eggman at a loss for words his eye narrowed slightly, clenching one of his fists in anger. The jackal ignored the stinging cuts all over his body, the small trickles of blood ran down his ebony fur.

"That was just a warning Infinite, and if you go against me again, the next time it will be worse," Eggman snarled. "Have I made myself clear?"

Eggman allowed Infinite to get to his feet. Infinite turned his head to glare at Eggman his fists clenched taking a step forward as Eggman raised a finger over the button. Infinite flinched not wanting to experience the searing pain again.

"Yes, you have Eggman," Infinite felt sick to his stomach. The jackal heard the hiss of the doors open seeing Eggman jerk his head silently towards a waiting Eggpawn gesturing for the robot to pick up Infinite. The cold metal of the robots' arms pressed up against his steel mask, the cold touch against his fur made Infinite uneasy.

The Eggpawn carried the jackal out of the room. The robot walked in silence down the hallway back towards Infinite's room. Infinite slumped in the robot's arms still in a state of shock. Infinite couldn't believe how easy it had been for Eggman to turn the power of the Phantom Ruby on him. The door slid open with a hiss the robot entered the room depositing the jackal on the bed; then it walked out of in silence leaving a brooding jackal simmering with fury lying on the bed.

"Someday, that fat man will pay for what he did to me," Infinite snarled his claws digging into the bed sheets. "I'll make that fat bastard pay for what he said about Kaito and the rest of my squad. Moreover, then this world will be mine to turn into a ravaged wasteland."

Infinite was determined to keep his promise of achieving his dream no matter who stood in his way. The jackal suddenly rolled over onto his side breaking into a violent coughing fit. Infinite covered a hand over his mouth, his lungs almost begging for relief. Mercifully the coughing fit ended leaving the jackal gasping for breath.

"Ugh, not another coughing fit," Infinite lifted his hand spying the small red drops of blood on the palms of his hands. "How is this happening? I can't be getting sick now, not when I'm so close to achieving my dream of that wasteland."

Infinite chose to get up pulling back the blankets settling in for an uneasy night's sleep. For now, a tense quiet filled Eggman's lair for it was clear that the battle to decide the fate of the planet would soon arrive.

* * *

 _Author's note_

 _This chapter was a tough one to write since I chose to have Tikal make an appearance here because well I feel she's been forgotten by Sonic team and well since she is a part of Chaos' origin well you can't have Chaos make an appearance without her. I do have a plan for the real Chaos, but you'll have to wait and see what those plans are. I do have a post-war arc planned once the war to take back the planet arc concludes and that's all I'll be saying for now._

 _I had to slip in one more Knuxouge moment because Knuckles is slowly coming to terms with the fact it was his lack of planning that led to how Operation Big Wave turned out badly as it did. I wanted to put in a moment where Knuckles slowly starts to regain his confidence, and it's going to take time for the echidna to prove that he can make up for his mistake when it came to Operation Big Wave._

 _The central scene was the tension between Eggman and Infinite. Another thing I liked Forces for was how it handled Eggman. It was satisfying to see Eggman as a competent villain, and he had a plan in mind in case Infinite tried to betray him, also with having a backup generator in case, the first one got destroyed. Also having him be several steps ahead of the heroes is a change to his character I wouldn't mind seeing in any future games in the series._

 _To clear up any confusion for a couple of points in this chapter. As for why Infinite attempted to attack Eggman he was angry with the doctor for fleeing the battle in Metropolis because he saw it as a wasted opportunity to wipe out the Resistance, but Eggman refused to do so. In return, Eggman decided on purpose to goad Infinite for a couple of reasons. The first reason it was to show that he wouldn't allow Infinite to intimidate him and to remind the jackal who was really in charge._

 _The second reason Eggman goaded Infinite is that he wanted an excuse to test out his Phantom Ruby countering device that can redirect the effects of the Phantom Ruby back on its user. Eggman built it shortly after he infused Infinite with the finalized Phantom Ruby Prototype in case Infinite turned on him and the partnership between Eggman and Infinite will continue to get worse, in the next few chapters._

 _A question of the day for you all. Are you guys excited for Sonic Mania plus' release in a little under two weeks?_

 _As per usual Constructive Criticism/thoughts and reviews are welcomed and appreciated. I will see you guys with the next update over the weekend._


	26. Open Your Heart

_Author's note I'm back once more._

 _I'm at a loss for words. This fic's been around for a little over four months now, and it has over 10,000 views. I'm speechless, I don't know what to say except a huge thank you to everyone who has faved, followed or viewed this story and I genuinely appreciate your support._

 _As always a big thank you to The GameNguyener, Alexandria Prime, SpiderDom321, Turquoise Triangle, Yami Chaos 27, Guest, Keyblade Writer of the Dawn, bajy, and SharpDragonKlaw._

 _Now the reason that I decided to include Tikal is that she is a crucial part of Chaos' backstory. I planned to include her right from the moment I wrote up the outline of this story. It felt right in include her in the last chapter since things are dire for the Resistance at the moment. Eggman's partnership with Infinite has been strained ever since the early days of their alliance. Their relationship is going to_ become _even worse in the next few chapters._

 _Disclaimer I do not own the characters, in Sonic the Hedgehog. They belong to Sega._

Italics Eggman's journal entries.

 _Without any further ado, the next chapter awaits._

* * *

Countdown to Eggman's plan 16 hours remain.

The hum of the ship's engines caused Sonic, Knuckles, and Rouge to stir from their uneasy slumber on the hard benches. The three of them spent most of the night trekking back from the Hidden Palace to the ship as all three of them had a brief rest of several hours. Most of the Resistance members were up and about running several maintenance checks with two members of the Resistance piloting the vessel. The fleet took off into the sky. Knuckles avoided looking at the Resistance members busying himself with setting up the last of the equipment.

"So then we have less than a day left to stop Eggman's plan," Tails said looking down at the monitor on his laptop having brought it from his workshop. "Hopefully there's something else about the Phantom Ruby I missed since we didn't have much time to study it."

"Heh I doubt that there's anything else we can find on that gemstone," Sonic said."We know the Phantom Ruby is a virtual reality weapon."

"I know, but I've found what appears to be several entries from Eggman's journal and it's likely that Eggman encrypted most of them when I hacked the Chemical Plant Database," Tails replied. "It's clear that Eggman wrote these before this war started."

Tails clicked on the small icon on the computer screen as the words appearing on the screen. Everyone watched the computer screen in silence for the hope Eggman's journal entries would have more clues on the Phantom Ruby.

 _April 7th, 2017_

 _Today was a successful day. In the middle of studying the strange gem, I came under attack from a group of mercenaries. Come to think about, if I hadn't raised the Phantom Ruby to deflect the leader's sword, well I wouldn't be sitting here writing this entry. I witnessed a destroyed wasteland, and I immediately guessed what this jackal desired the most, and I offer him and his squad to ally themselves with me._

 _Even though the rest of the squad protested, their leader caused them to be silent and gave me his name. Zerinn. I suspect that he could be a danger later on, but for now, he could be useful. I enjoyed dangling the Phantom Ruby out of reach of his fingers. The look on his face was hilarious._

 _I have a feeling that this will be the beginning of a beautiful partnership._

 _April 21st, 2017_

 _Damn that Shadow! That accursed black and red hedgehog is the pinnacle of my grandfather's research, but he took out the rest of the Jackal Squad and their weak leader came crawling back practically begging to have the power of the Phantom Ruby. However, I have to admit they impressed me with their combat prowess and I sent out my robots to retrieve the survivors._

 _I initially thought about infusing the Phantom Ruby into my chest, but I couldn't shake the feeling it would be a bad idea since I discovered that the longer the Phantom Ruby remained fused with an organic being, they would fall ill from the effects of the Phantom Ruby._

 _It turned out that a member from the Jackal Squad survived his battle with Shadow. He told me his name was Fenrir. I assumed he would be the perfect test subject as an experiment to have a prototype of the Phantom Ruby fused to his chest. However, due to his weakened condition, he didn't last long and swiftly perished. I left his body to rot alongside the other bodies of his comrades._

 _So there is a side effect to implementing the Phantom Ruby within an organic being. Maybe infusing Zerinn with the finalized prototype isn't such a good idea, but he wants that power I'll perform the procedure, but if he falls ill then it'll be his fault._

 _I can't seem to shake the feeling that Zerinn is dangerous. He has a lust for power, if he intends to stand in the way of the Eggman Empire then so be it._

 _May 6th, 2017_

 _I'm almost ready for my conquest of Mobius. Infusing the finalized Phantom Ruby prototype with Infinite was a success. Infinite effortlessly defeated Shadow. I argued briefly with him about imprisoning Shadow within the Death Egg. He only relented when I threatened to remove the Phantom Ruby prototype and infuse it with Metal Sonic instead. The other four members of the Jackal squad survived their injuries, and I implemented a fragment into a jackal known as Kaito._

 _After some loyalty issues with Kaito, I sent him to the Green Hill Zone prison facility. Hopefully, some discipline will teach him to respect me. The other three are still recovering from their injuries, and they won't stop asking about Zerinn. They are in a secret location and maybe if I break off a small fragment of a Phantom Ruby prototype and attach to it a cord around their necks, then perhaps they won't suffer any ill effects from the Phantom Ruby._

 _For now, this will be the last time I write in my diary. I'll be departing tomorrow with Infinite and my fleet to begin my conquest of the world._

Sonic, Amy, Kaito, Sahara, Knuckles, Vector, Rouge and Gadget stared in shock at the words flashing on the screen. Kaito recalled with sinking dread in his stomach when he'd been Infinite's prisoner, he remembered the ribs showing through his fur, how his older half-brother consumed only half of the toast and his coat looked paler than usual.

"It looks like the Phantom Ruby makes the user sick," Sonic mumbled. "Infinite's fur looked paler when we fought him in Null Space."

Shadow ran a critical eye over the information on the screen. Kaito looked up apprehension on his face as though he was struggling to find the answer to a question lingering on his mind. Kaito's bandages had been removed revealing the two pairs of stitches crossing through the middle of the jackal's abdomen as the young jackal raised his fingers to scratch at the spot where his fragment of the Phantom Ruby had once been.

"So, I take it that Infinite believes that I'm dead?"

Gadget hesitated for a few brief minutes letting out a low tired sigh. The memory of Infinite on his hands and knees frantically searching for his younger half-brother through the debris of the apartment complex calling out Kaito's name repeatedly holding onto a faint hope Kaito was still alive. Gadget remembered the brief glimpse of pain in Infinite's eye before he screamed in pure grief. The sound would forever haunt Gadget until the day the wolf died to make eye contact with Kaito.

"Yeah he did," Gadget replied barely above a whisper. "I didn't even expect that kind of reaction from Infinite. I've never even seen him that angry before. He wanted Mikhail to experience the pain of losing a sibling."

"So, it appears that the Phantom Ruby is making him ill," Kaito breathed out. "I knew right from the start something was off about the Phantom Ruby because he became obsessed with it, not too long after we met Eggman."

"It appears to be the case," Shadow spoke clenching his fists. "I have a feeling that he was sick even before he got his hands on the Phantom Ruby."

Kaito shot Shadow a full glare his fur bristling his ears pinned back against his head. Shadow didn't anticipate Kaito slamming into Shadow knocking him off his feet causing the hedgehog's head to slam hard against the ground. Shadow made eye contact with Kaito. The sharp, angry tears pricking at the corner of his eyes his flamberge raised, lips pulled back in an angry snarl.

"He wasn't sick before the Phantom Ruby!" Kaito snarled angry tears streaming down his face. "Take that damn comment back right now!"

Kaito stared down in anger seeing Shadow lower his eyelids the small frown crossed the hedgehog's face. "He used an illusion of my best friend against me. That's what I meant by that comment. The sooner Infinite is dead then Mobius will truly be safe."

"Did Infinite use an illusion of Maria against you?" Sonic asked Shadow softly. "If so, that was low of him."

Shadow nodded in response silently folding his arms across his chest in silence. The hedgehog let out a low sigh turning red eyes towards Sonic confirming his suspicions. Kaito didn't say anything in response to Sonic's question. Kaito opened his fingers allowing the flamberge to clatter against the ground.

"Did Infinite use an illusion of Maria?" Sonic asked Shadow softly. "If so, that was low of him."

Shadow nodded in response silently folding his arms across his chest in silence. The hedgehog let out a low sigh turning red eyes towards Sonic confirming his suspicions.

Shadow lightly pushed against Kaito's chest. Kaito backed away panting in anger, tears still streaming down his face before he let out a scream of rage running to the rear of the ship. The sound of Kaito's footsteps caused both Mikhail and Chaser to stir from their slumber looking up blearily as Gadget made a move to go after Kaito as Tails noticed the wolf shaking his head no from side to side.

"Leave him be Gadget," Tails mumbled. "He may need time to calm down."

The wolf lowered his ears as he heard the sounds of footsteps as Sahara ran to the window pressing her face to the window a concerned expression on her face.

"Hey, guys I think Angel Island just sank a little."

Sahara's words caused a brief glimpse of alarm to go off as Knuckles raced towards the window spying the distant shape of Angel Island beginning to descend below the cloud line a knot of anxiety formed in Knuckles' stomach.

 _Tikal if you can hear me, please do your best to keep Chaos contained._

* * *

Meanwhile, in the depths of Hidden Palace, the cracks ran along the surface of the Master Emerald causing the emerald to shift from side to side even more violently. From within the Emerald Chaos unleashed all of his power onto the Master Emerald the dimly aware of the gentle hands on Chaos to no avail.

"Chaos please don't do this!" Tikal cried out in a panic the ghostly Chao whimpering in fear clinging to her ankles. "I know that you're angry, but this won't solve anything!"

Chaos ignored her. The God of Destruction's fully intended to break free of the Master Emerald. With one last surge of strength, the Master Emerald fell off its pedestal crashing against the ground exploding into green emerald shards scattering all over the tiled floor of the Hidden Palace. Chaos felt the tremors all over the island due to the Master Emerald shattering. The God of Destruction wrenched the doors open not caring that the island continued its descent towards the ocean. The fall came to a stop as Angel Island plunged into the surf sending up a massive gush of water.

Chaos jumped off the edge of Angel Island jumping into the water aware of the small pink orb following Chaos in his pursuit of the blue and white ship.

"Angel Island just fell into the ocean!"

Charmy's cry caught Knuckles' attention. The echidna paused feeling a pit of dread opening up in his stomach. Everyone raced over to the window seeing Angel Island landing in the ocean and Knuckles looked down spying a flash of light blue amongst the deep blue surface. The blue blob appeared to be heading towards a particular place in Mobius everyone knew to have a real Angry God of Destruction on the loose potentially spelled trouble for the rest of Mobius.

"Oh, that's just perfect!" Vector cried out in frustration. "We have less than a day left and now we've got to deal with the real Chaos!"

Knuckles immediately took command of the situation. Right now the guardian didn't care if most everyone on the ship hated him. He would still do his best to protect them all. The echidna closed his eyes mentally seeing the image of the Master Emerald shards lying scattered all over the floor of the Hidden Palace.

"Change of plans," Knuckles said calmly and evenly. "We must make a quick detour to Station Square. Chaos is on the loose there, and we can't afford to lose any more innocent lives if we don't take too much time."

"But sir, why should we listen to you after that botched plan of yours?"

"Anyone can make a mistake, and I will agree that Knuckles made a huge mistake with Operation Big wave," Amy spoke up loudly. "Please, everyone just give Knuckles another chance to prove himself."

A tense silence fell over the docking bay before the pilots looked at each other for a few minutes conversing in low tones. An irritated sigh came from one pilot who turned hard on the wheel. The ship shifted to the left heading toward Station Square. Knuckles breathed out a sigh of relief as several Resistance members looked at each other nervously.

"Thanks, Amy, I can take it from here," Knuckles said seeing the hostile glares aimed at him. "Look I know that you're all mad at me for Operation Big Wave and I honestly don't blame you. I've doubted myself as well. From now on I can only promise you that I won't recklessly put you in more danger."

The Resistance members muttered turning their backs towards Knuckles in low, angry voices. Knuckles didn't have long to dwell on the Resistance's mistrust for him. After a few hours, the fleet soon arrived in Station Square hearing the door opened as Knuckles led his group out into the near-empty city with several residents observing them from their windows.

"Keep an eye out for Chaos," Knuckles said alerting everyone. "He's enraged, and he's not going to go down without a fight. I need Omega, Rouge, Kaito, Sahara, Silver, Mikhail, and Chaser to evacuate the citizens and take them to safety in case Chaos floods Station Square. I don't want to see anyone else lose their lives today."

The mentioned individuals nodded heading into Station Square hoping to search out and locate citizens to bring them back to the safety of the ship. The pilots remained behind ready to give the command for the fleet to ascend in case Chaos couldn't be subdued.

* * *

Countdown to Eggman's plan 14 hours remain.

Station Square had once been the most popular tourist hotspot in all of Mobius that is until Perfect Chaos' attack several years had destroyed most of the city. The attack led to over ninety-five percent of its residents died in the attack leaving Station Square a near ghost town. In the last five years since Perfect Chaos' attack the rebuilding efforts nearing completion. Things looked hopeful for Station Square to reclaim its glory days until Eggman's conquest of Mobius; the citizens were more worried about being captured to work in Eggman's factories. A fearful atmosphere hung over the city leaving everyone terrified for their lives.

It was here in the near vacant city Infinite arrived landing on the ground wincing rubbing at the burned patches of fur on his wrists and ankle. The jackal raised his head his ears straining to pick up any form of sounds or life. Zerinn looked up at one of the near vacant buildings a pair of eyes staring back at him horrified. The child's eyes drifted to the burned patches of fur on Infinite's wrists and ankles.

The mother ran to the window shooting a horrified glance in Infinite's direction. She quickly pulled her child back away from the window with fear drawing the blinds closed. Infinite titled his mask upwards allowing the small smirk on his face. The jackal raised his hands allowing his fingers to brush along the surface of the Phantom Ruby ignoring the trembling all over his body drawing on the power of the gemstone, levitating into the air.

The rush of red wave rushed over the dark gray clouds drew in low over the area the faint rumbles of thunder echoed off in the distance, Several gushes of high-pressure water erupted from the streets sending the citizens running for cover as the few cars skidded to a stop.

Terror struck the citizens as they ran for higher ground. A few of them recalled with horror looking at the plumes of water erupting out of the sewers what happened right before Perfect Chaos attacked. The massive column of water shot out of a sewer cover sweeping up a pair of citizens who'd gotten to close to it, sending them screaming into the air before gravity pulled them back to the ground. They lay dead in the streets killed by the force of the fall.

Infinite closed his eye allowing his fingers to run over the Phantom Ruby hearing the familiar sound of it activating. Infinite opened his eye coming face to face with the three illusions in front of him. It wasn't just the primary form of Chaos. A giant blob of water landed next to Infinite revealing a large blue shark-like creature with a fin sticking out in the middle of his back and the last copy of Chaos bore metallic implants in his arms. Infinite watched the Chaos illusions running amok on the city, hearing the dull buzz coming from his communicator.

"Infinite have you activated the Phantom Ruby yet?"

"Yes, I have, Doctor," Infinite replied weakly coughing slightly. "I should stick around to ensure that I wipe out an-"

"That won't be necessary Infinite, and I need you to return to Mt Yuji at once," Eggman barked through the other end of the communicator. "Unless if you want a reminder of what'll happen if you refuse. I need the Phantom Ruby at full power for my plan to work."

"I understand," Infinite said pausing to cough again. "I will head back to Mt. Yuji Doctor. Do you have an idea why I'm coughing?"

"It must be something in the air," Eggman's curt response over the communicator.

Infinite shot off across the sky in a red trail of light leaving behind several copies of the God of Destruction to attack the citizens. The jackal paused briefly observing the havoc down below his feet. The screams of the citizens reaching his ears. The jackal allowed a small, grim smile to cross his face letting out a low chuckle noticing the small fleet belonging to the Resistance had arrived.

"Ah, perhaps if those ants perish, then conquering Mobius will be easier," Infinite chuckled. "It still won't stop me from claiming what's rightfully mine though."

The jackal turned around heading back towards Mt. Yuji feeling nothing, but a grim satisfaction of the Resistance facing the three illusions, hopefully dying in the process.

* * *

Countdown to Eggman's plan 12 hours remaining

In the next few minutes, the red wave washed over the Resistance as water poured in from everywhere nearly knocking everyone off their feet. Amy, Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, and the Chaotix were at the forefront along with Gadget and Shadow taking in the flooded streets of Station Square along with the chaos that followed it. Three illusions of Chaos came charging towards the Resistance their process unhampered by the rising waters. They had every intention of killing the Resistance. Some citizens hadn't escaped in time, having drowned in the streets their lifeless bodies rising to the top of the surface.

"I guess that Infinite was here, but I guess he's gone now," Sonic said frowning looking at the

"This is bad," Amy breathed out in concern. "We now have to deal with Phantom Ruby fakes of Chaos' forms except for Perfect Chaos and Chaos 6."

"Perfect Chaos is the last thing that needs to show up," Sonic retorted grimacing his sneakers became waterlogged sloshing through the water. "Man, I hope that I never have to wade through the water again."

"We'll deal with the Chaos zero illusion," Vector stared hearing the thud of the God of Destructions' heavy wet footsteps. "Come on, boys we'll earn our pay yet!"

The Chaotix broke into a run heading towards the false Chaos engaging one of them in battle. The illusion reacted with lightning fast reflexes lunging out with its arms. Espio ducked and weaved throwing out the shurikens aimed at the brain the God of Destruction. Chaos raised his arm as the shurikens harmlessly passed through it.

"Stay close," Espio warned Charmy. "Don't underestimate him this time."

"You worry too much Espio," Charmy said flying into the air dodging Chaos' swipes. "Besides, I'd like to see him even try to hit me!"

The illusion silently lunging out at the bee as Vector lunged for Chaos' limb only to get smacked in the face with the watery appendage. Meanwhile, the floodwaters continued to rise forcing the Resistance's fleet to ascend into the air to avoid being submerged by the rising waters.

Mikhail stared out in horror at the rising floodwaters. The rest of the Resistance members had been able to get some citizens to the roof of the buildings observing the scene in terror unable to do anything to help.

Sonic, Tails, and Gadget ran across the heavily flooded streets leaping onto the large green lily pads that somehow sprouted in the middle of the road giving them a footing in the rough waters. Chaos 4 dived beneath the waves the force of the impact almost knocked Tails off the edge of the lily pad as Gadget pulled him back in time.

"Where did he go?"

The wolf gazed around in terror looking for any signs that Chaos was below them. The water stirred as the lily pad shifted as Gadget plunged into the water. He hastily grabbed his glasses spying the massive form of Chaos 4 racing towards him the force of the impact slammed into Gadget forcing the wolf to the surface sending him flying into the air before gravity took hold sending the wolf crashing back down to the surface.

"Hang in there Gadget!"

Tails quickly ascended into the air spying Chaos 4 come racing towards him as the young fox reacted quickly lashing out with his tails cutting harmlessly through the liquid like limb spying the red cubes rising into the sky. Chaos 4 let out a low moan of pain stumbling back as Sonic homing attacked Chaos 4's exposed brain causing the God of Destruction to break apart four lights shining above him forming into balls chasing the hedgehog running across the surface of the water.

Tails saw Gadget's head exploded from out of the water coughing and gagging for air swimming over to one of the lily pads heaving himself up out of the water.

"Gadget?" Tails hovered near the wolf concern on his face. "Are you okay?"

"Considering that got a bath I didn't want I'm okay," Gadget replied pointing the Burst Wispon the stream of flame erupted from the muzzle of the Wispon only to fizzle against the watery appendage the illusion raised to defend itself beginning to glitch out the small red cubes leaking from the small gaps across the liquid surface.

Amy joined the Chaotix in the battle awkwardly wading her way through the wet roads racing towards Chaos 0 slamming her Piko- Piko hammer into the ground leaping high into the air landing a blow on Chaos' brain causing him to stumble.

Shadow lunged out of the way of the arm embedded with metal the blank gaze of Chaos 2 glaring at him observing them, carefully. The few Resistance soldiers trembled aiming blows attacks at the illusion only to miss.

Shadow felt the lick of flame curled against his spines. The hedgehog winced spinning away to glare at the nervous recruit who chuckled nervously holding on a Burst Wispon a sheepish smile on his face.

"Attacking the body of water won't do a thing," Shadow spoke quietly. "You need to go for the brain."

Shadow ran towards the illusion before leaping into the air preparing to land a kick on Chaos 2. The illusion spun around lunging out an arm slamming into Shadow's face sending the Ultimate Lifeform crashing to the ground.

Chaos 2 turned his attention towards a pair of terrified Resistance members. Knuckles reacted first running at full tilt towards them lunging out with his fists catching Chaos forcing the illusion slamming his fists into his brain. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction the guardian got between the two Resistance members and their enemy.

"Thank you, Commander!"

The bird exhaled a sigh of relief the hedgehog nodded gratefully.

Their relief didn't last long. Without warning, the illusionary Chaos 2 lunged out with an arm his wet fingers grabbing the echidna around the throat flinging him into the air. The illusion leaped into the air landing a punch to the echidna's abdomen knocking the wind out of Knuckles. Chaos quickly landed blow after blow on Knuckles allowing at one point the echidna rising to his feet lashing out at the illusion.

"No, I can't let it end like this," Knuckles hissed painfully. "I will protect everyone!"

Knuckles ran at Chaos again landing a sharp punch to the brain. In retaliation, Chaos swept Knuckles' feet out from underneath him crashing him to the ground seeing the illusion rear its fist back to finish off the Guardian. Suddenly a blob of water reared up out of the water as it took the form of the real Chaos. The God of Destruction raced over to the illusion of Chaos 2 lashing out with his arms. Knuckles groaned in pain forcing himself to his feet shaking his head ignoring the stabbing pain coming from his ribs looking up to see the actual Chaos slamming his fists against the fake Chaos.

"Wait, the real Chaos he's not after us," Knuckles said in amazement smiling. "He's after those illusions!"

Chaos attacked once more this time driving both of his arms into Chaos 2's brain the force of the impact caused the illusion broke apart into a shower of red cubes.

"Yes, the real Chaos is on our side!"

The other two illusions broke away from the Chaotix and Sonic making a beeline for Chaos 4 and 0. Chaos lashed out avoiding his fake's attacks ducking down landing rapid attacks on the fake illusions of him. Chaos 4 made a desperate lunge for its attacker only to have Chaos plunge his hand through the brain of the fake causing it to glitch out breaking apart into a shower of red cubes.

Loud cheers came from the citizens still on the rooftops of the city. Sonic turned to face the God of Destruction glancing at the group. The light floated above the palm of Knuckles' hand hearing the light pulse as Tikal's voice came from speaking in a regretful tone.

"Knuckles, I'm sorry that I couldn't hold Chaos back," Tikal spoke in a sorrowful tone. "Chaos wishes to lend his strength to your cause. Only then will Chaos return to the Master Emerald peacefully."

The news that the God of Destruction wanted to fight alongside the Resistance ignited a spark of hope within the Resistance. Knuckles allowed a tired smile to grace his face the small chuckle escaping his lips. The mood felt less tense than it did several hours ago as Chaos moved along the small crowd his unblinking green eyes swiveling around the area taking in all the Mobians. Most of them bowed in respect when Chaos walked past them.

"I think we'll need all the help we can get right now." Knuckles said bowing respectfully towards Chaos. "Chaos if you want to help us then we'll need all the help that we can get."

The pink orb hovered closer to the God of Destruction. Chaos slowly opened a wet palm allowing the light to settle in the palm of his hand, The rest of the Resistance showed hesitation at the God of Destruction's decision to join their fight against the Eggman Empire. Sonic looked around at the worried expressions on the Resistance's faces.

"It won't be forever guys until this war ends," Sonic said hopefully reassuring the Resistance. "Tails how much time do we have left?"

"It's a seven-hour flight to Mt. Yuji, and then we'll only have eight hours left to stop Eggman's plan."

At Tails' words, it was more enough to cause a wave of unease to ripple throughout the members of the Resistance. Sonic couldn't help, but notice that everyone looked skeptical and afraid. Everyone on the rooftops looked uneasy at the mention of

"Eight hours is still plenty of time," Silver called out his voice reverberating around the area. "We can't give up now. Everyone on Mobius is counting on us to win this war. We can do it!"

Silver's speech ignited a few small cheers. Knuckles glanced over at Silver an idea plaguing his mind seeing how the Resistance were willing to follow Silver and a tap on the echidna's shoulder caught his attention. The Guardian turned to see the hedgehog he'd rescued earlier looking up at him admiration in her eyes.

"Thank you for saving me Commander," the hedgehog spoke shyly backing away from Knuckles. "If you hadn't stepped in when you did, I would've been killed. Most of us will need time to forgive you for what happened at Metropolis, but I'm willing to follow your lead."

Knuckles risked a glance over at the members of the Resistance. Several Mobians looked back at him with hostility on their faces, grumbling amongst themselves that the echidna who'd spent most of his life upon an island in the clouds. However, a few Mobians were less hostile, looking back at Knuckles respect shining in their eyes at their Commander. Knuckles inwardly breathed out a sigh of relief. It was a small start, but it seemed like some members of the Resistance had begun to forgive the guardian for his disastrous planning when it'd come to Operation Big Wave. Knuckles was hopeful when Eggman was defeated he would, at last, be able to return to Angel Island.

"You're welcome, and now let's go and take back our planet from Eggman!"

There were loud cheers at Knuckles' statement the Resistance returned to the small fleet along with Chaos added to their ranks. Their chances of taking back their home looked a little brighter and as the fleet rose into the sky heading on its path towards Mt. Yuji with the residents of Station Square cheering them on. The small flowers began to poke up through the soil starting to unfurl their golden petals. Although it was small hope was starting to return to Mobius.

* * *

Author's _note Well this chapter turned out to be longer then I thought it would be. The real Chaos has joined the battle, and his help couldn't have come at a better time since the final battle is approaching. Another of my goals for this story was to give Chaos the much-needed spotlight he deserved, instead of having him appear for under two minutes in the game._

 _To clear up any confusion about the timeline of the war, it began on the seventh of May, and it's now November. The diary entries form Eggman something I planned to put in from the start, and I felt it was right to put them here._

 _Now the idea of Infinite becoming sick from the effects of the Phantom Ruby was an idea that slammed into my brain. I didn't want to go with the Infinite was possessed by the Phantom Ruby, and in a way, it's almost karmic. Infinite sought out the power of the Phantom Ruby, and he abandoned everything to get that power only for it to turn on him._

 _As if you're wondering why Kaito, Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys haven't fallen ill to the effects of the Phantom Ruby it's because Kaito rarely used his fragment because he was afraid of losing his mind like Zerinn. For Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys they've only used their Phantom Ruby fragments a couple of times so far in the story._

 _As per usual constructive criticism, thoughts and reviews are welcomed and appreciated, and the next chapter will be on the way soon._


	27. The sun of Despair

_Author's note_

 _A thank you to CatCharm for leaving a favorite, and a follow on the story._

 _As always I have to give a big thank you to Spider Dom 321, TheGameNguyener, bajy, Alexandria Prime, YamiChaos 27, Extreme Light 9, Keyblade Writer of the Dawn, Sharp DragonKlaw, and to everyone else that has left a review on this story or left a favorite or follow, you have my eternal gratitude, and all of you are amazing people._

 _This is it the moment that everything's been building up to the climax of this war is finally here and at long last, the Resistance is about to make it's final stand to reclaim Mobius from the grasp of the Eggman Empire. However, Eggman is not going to be so willing to give up his control over Mobius without a fight._

 _Disclaimer I do not own anything in Sonic the Hedgehog since I don't own the characters, settings or locations used in this story, They are the copyright of Sega._

* * *

Countdown to Eggman's plan five hours remaining.

In Eggman's fortress tensions ran high. The first thing Infinite did on his return had been to ask Eggman for a checkup. Much to his surprise, Eggman granted his request having escorted the jackal to the small office past a sizeable empty room filled with a pair of red and white tendril-like objects. Infinite couldn't identify what the tendrils were before Eggman called for him. Now the jackal perched on the edge of the table looking down at Eggman who ran the stethoscope over the jackal's chest pressing it close to the edge of the Phantom Ruby on the right side of his chest. The chill of the cold metal disk sliding over his chest didn't cause the jackal to flinch.

"So how long have you been coughing for Infinite?" Eggman asked with mock concern for his second in command. "You were perfectly healthy until recently."

"It's been happening for the last few days," Infinite curtly said. "Doctor do you have any idea why this is happening?"

A sudden harsh coughing fit erupted from the jackal's mouth after he asked his question. Infinite immediately pushed up the corner of his mask with one hand coughing into his right hand. Sharp hacking coughs filled the room. Infinite could feel his lungs aching, his throat felt like raw mincemeat. After what seemed an eternity Infinite finally stopped coughing. Eggman grimaced at the sick jackal on his table. The mad scientist turned his attention to a single glass of water on the desk not too far away from Infinite.

"Here, you need to have a drink."

Eggman shoved the glass of water at his ill second in command. Infinite took the glass being pressing it against his mouth drinking the water greedily letting out a sigh of relief.

"I wonder if you're falling sick, then maybe you should take a rest," Eggman said with false concern waiting to see what the jackal's response to his statement would be. "Well, you are a vital part of this Empire, and I'm sure you want to eliminate the Resistance so that you can prove that you're the strongest being in all of Mobius."

"Soon the world's trash will come to fear the Phantom Ruby's power," came the jackal's tense reply sliding off the table facing Eggman. "If any single one of them fails to bow down, then I will show them the true meaning of fear, and pain. I will deter any wannabe heroes, by torturing them to death."

The jackal glared at Eggman hearing footsteps echoing off the floor. The mad scientist couldn't help but grin sinisterly at Infinite taking notice of the jackal's tail thudding on the ground in slight anxiety. Nephthys, Saber, and Quartz entered the room in stony silence.

Infinite tensed upon seeing the three jackals glaring at him. Infinite inhaled standing up tall. Ever since he'd learned of their survival Infinite would not show any signs of weakness in their presence; now he was face to face with them. A small part of him dreaded meeting them once more. Kaito's death still weighed heavily upon Infinite's heart. Kaito should' have been here to see the other three members of their family again.

"Quartz, Saber, Nephthys," Infinite stood up tall, breathing in. "Kaito has perished. He was too weak to wield -"

Without warning, Saber hurried right up to Infinite showing no signs of fear. The older jackal clenched his fists staring his former leader in the eye. A tense silence filled the room. Saber gripped the fur along Zerinn's chest tightly his nails leaving small marks in Infinite's fur.

"We know that he's dead, and it's all because of you," Saber snarled. "It was your irresponsible actions that led to the deaths of half of our squad."

"Saber's our new leader now," Quartz added in glaring at Infinite. "Your father was right; you were never meant to be the leader of the Jackal Squad."

Nephthys took several steps up close to Infinite her teeth bared in a snarl. Upon closer inspection, Infinite realized her eyes were bloodshot as though she'd been crying. Now that the jackal though about it both Saber's and Quartz's eyes appeared to be slightly red from the news of Kaito's death.

"You said we were like family," Nephthys screamed right in Infinite's face. "It doesn't matter if you're ill, Kaito is dead, and it's all your fault!"

Eggman stood off to the side, grinning sadistically watching the unfolding drama play out in front of him. Nephthys lunged for Infinite the latter grabbing by her the wrist twisting it back painfully. The female wrenched her wrist free slapping Infinite hard across the metallic mask wincing from the blow. Quartz ran to help Nephthys stomping hard on Infinite's tail. Infinite yelped in pain pinning Quartz to the floor. Eggman let out a loud piercing whistle catching all of their attention.

"All right, that's enough from all of you!" Eggman bellowed seeing everyone in the room turn their attention towards him. "There are still five more hours to go before my plan draws to its conclusion and I'll unleash my secret weapon on the Resistance eliminating them once for all. When we take over Mobius, then all of you can resume your bickering unless all of you want to have a Robotomy treatment."

The jackals fell silent at Eggman's threat. Metal Sonic took this moment to enter the room with several of the Roboticized citizens standing to attention slowly raising a claw pointing at the monitor. Eggman glanced over at Metal Sonic's digit his eyes following his creations' finger pointing up at the screen.

On the monitor screen, several white and blue ships engaged Eggman's fleet in a dogfight in their futile struggle to reclaim Mobius. At last after all the planning eliminating the Resistance in one movement would finally lead to his moment of triumph at having Mobius under his control. Eggman chuckled evilly the sound rang around the room with no one else joining in.

"Infinite, I need you to clone an army of Zavoks, Shadows, Chaos' and a few more Metal Sonics. That will send fear and terror into the Resistance. I'll be sending the Robotizcied Mobians to along with Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys. The grand finale is almost upon us!"

At Eggman's words, the Jackal Squad left the room with Infinite silently simmering in anger running his fingers in silence over the Phantom Ruby lost in thought as an idea came into his mind. The jackal punched a wall in frustration. It didn't matter if his squad hated him. Infinite vowed he would never feel weak again. The moment when Infinite chose to carry Infinite to carry out his plan had arrived. Infinite allowed a small malicious smirk at Eggman rubbing at the burned of patches of fur on his wrists.

"No, Doctor just you wait until you see the true finale," Infinite whispered smirking. "Soon you'll perish in the flames of hell, along with the Resistance."

* * *

Countdown to Eggman's plan four hours remaining.

The main vessel of the Resistance came to a landing against the rocky grey soil. The tense atmosphere hung over everyone, even the God of Destruction pacing back and forth in the docking bay. Rouge pressed her ear to the communicator the small anxious frown on her face.

"That was the Commander," Rouge spoke to Shadow and Omega. "He says G.U.N's forces are busy dealing with the mass robot outbreaks all over Mobius, and he wishes us good luck in taking down the Eggman Empire."

The news that G.U.N could not lend their support in the final battle for Mobius dampened the Resistance's spirits before Knuckles walked back and forth hearing the door open. Now was the time to give the Resistance a brief speech on the Guardian planned to inspire confidence in the small army of Mobians determined to get their home back.

"All right everyone as you're probably aware there's no turning back now," Knuckles said. "We will go out there to fight and to reclaim our home back and beat Eggman once and for all. Also to avenge our fallen comrades who died in Operation Big Wave. Don't let their deaths be in vain. Let's go and get our home back!"

Loud cheers followed Knuckles' statement. The Resistance stampeded out of the ship running across the large field with Chaos not too far behind them. After a few minutes of running through the grey wastelands, the sight of a massive army made up of multiple Zavoks, Chaos, Shadows, Quartz Metal Sonic, Saber, Nephthys. The illusions and the jackals weren't alone. Standing next to them a line of roboticized Mobians stood shoulder to shoulder alongside Eggman's army, gasps of horror came from the Resistance some of them crying out in shock at the sight of Eggman's cruelty.

"No," Amy breathed out in shock. "Eggman's crossed the line this time. There's no way we're giving up."

"It's not over until the fat Eggman sings!" Sonic called out. "I know that all of you are afraid of failing, but if we push past that fear and rise above it, victory will be ours for the taking!"

Sonic's cheer rallied the army letting out a loud yell the sound echoing all over the valley. Everyone in the Resistance resumed running towards Eggman's army.

Infinite hovered there above army the deep magenta energy pulsing around him. Infinite silently waved a hand pointing forward at the Resistance. At his silent command, the rest of the Phantom Army charged forward towards their enemies. Eggman took to the sky with Orbot and Cubot at his side. The two forces collided in the middle of the vast grey plateau.

Knuckles lunged out at the real Metal Sonic punching him across the metallic jaw with Silver landing on his right side wrapping three clones of Zavok, Shadow, and Chaos allowing Rouge, Shadow, and Omega to take them out with ease. Chaos made a beeline straight for his fake copies illusions lunging out with his arms taking them out effortlessly. Mikhail and Sahara worked together to take down a Zavok illusion, and Nephthys.

Amy slammed her Piko Piko Hammer down on Quartz's tail prompting a yelp from the jackal who leaped away. Quartz pressed a couple of fingers to the Phantom Ruby fragment around his neck summoning several more phantom kunais in the air before he threw them at her. Amy to dodge at the last second. Chaser ducked a blow from Saber using his Hover Wispon to blast the jackal away with a gust of air.

Showers of red cubes floating into the sky in red mists signaled that most of the clones were getting destroyed.

"What the heck?" Eggman exclaimed spying the real Chaos fighting alongside the Resistance. "How did they get the Real Chaos on their side?" Eggman queried gazing around the battlefield casting a worried look back towards the tower where his secret weapon hidden away.

Eggman scowled tapping his fingers along the cold metal of the Eggmobile searching for Sonic. Eggman spotted a flash of cobalt blue fur with Kaito, a grey wolf, Tails and the red wolf. Eggman grinned sinisterly at the sight of Infinite heading down to intercept the small group allowing a sinister chuckle to escape his lips.

"Ah well, it doesn't matter," Eggman reassured himself. "I will enjoy seeing the looks of terror on their faces soon enough."

* * *

"Eggman's masked clown is coming!"

Gadget looked up seeing Infinite coming down to land on the rough terrain. The single eye fixed intently on Sonic, and then it shifted to Kaito Infinite pausing momentarily in shock trembling slightly upon seeing Kaito. The jackal composed himself. A tense silence fell on the field as the Chaotix engaged a small group of the Roboticized Mobians as the battle raged on all around them.

"So Infinite so are you ready for your fourth defeat now?" Sonic asked flashing him a cheeky grin. "I mean if you want to surrender and come quietly we'll give you a nice cold cell."

Infinite chuckled the sound a lot less menacing when he finished it with a cough. "You truly believe I will surrender quietly just like that?"

The jackal swung out his arms a wave of red energy rushed over the area, the force of the impact knocked the Resistance members off their feet sending them crashing against the hard ground. Sonic winced slowly getting to his feet wincing in pain. Infinite smirked raising his hand preparing to strike Sonic with a ball of a red laser in his hands.

"Chaos Spear!"

Infinite felt the yellow spears slicing into his fur, rapidly turning around in coming face to face with an angry Ultimate Life form. Shadow used Chaos Control to teleport next to Infinite landing a swift kick to his stomach knocking the jackal out of the sky sending him crashing to the hard soil the force of the momentum caused Infinite to bounce back up to Shadow's location. Shadow punched the jackal hard across his face nearly knocking the mask of his face, finishing the combo with a kick to the back. Gravity took hold of Infinite again sending the jackal to crash to the ground, bouncing several times his mask fracturing several times from the impact skidding to a stop on the hard terrain.

"That was for Maria."

Infinite struggled to get to his feet spying a flash of green from the corner of his eyes. Kaito glared down at him his lips pulled back in a snarl. The hand that held the flamberge trembled slightly. A low click from Infinite's right told him that Gadget pointed the Burst Wispon at him his face set into a determined expression.

"I thought you died," Infinite whispered feebly. "And it's all because you rejected the ultimate power."

"No, you're wrong," Kaito spoke keeping his voice calm. "I nearly did, but that power is making you ill. You chose this path for yourself, and I'll be happy to see you locked up behind bars."

Infinite glowered at Shadow quickly ascending into the air. A high-pitched whistling sound caught his attention. The Jackal promptly spun around to see a hail or missiles, rockets and a variety of other weapons heading his way. The jackal grimaced dodging the attacks spying the source of the onslaught seeing Omega lower his arm deploying more arsenal at the ready to launch another barrage on Infinite.

"I have secured Target infinite!" Omega spoke in a monotonous tone. "Beginning extermination protocol! I will begin my revenge against Infinite, to make up for my previous defeat!"

Infinite spied several rocks surrounded by a teal glow as Silver gritted his teeth throwing them at Infinite forcing him to dodge the onslaught of rocks and laser bullets forcing the jackal to land on the ground glaring at the approaching members of the Resistance.

"These foolish pieces of trash just keep coming," Infinite growled. "Well, then all of you can burn to ashes in the pits of Hell!"

Before anyone could stop him, Infinite drew on the power of the Phantom Ruby sending a small red trail of light into the vast grey sky. After a few minutes, a giant virtual construct of the sun bore down on everyone in the area. Everyone in the Resistance members stopped to stare up in horror their brains processing the giant sun hanging just several meters above them descending slowly towards the ground.

"No way, this can't be real can it?" Knuckles asked concern in his voice looking over at Tails. "Tails there's no way we're experiencing this right?"

Tails shook his head from side-to-side concern etched on his face. The fox couldn't deny the events that played out in front of them all and Tails let out a low, sad sigh his body bearing a few cuts on his body from the fighting. At his words, the Resistance members stopped fighting to stare up in horror at the slowly approaching sun.

"No, we're under the Phantom Ruby's illusion, so this is real to us," Tails said sullenly. "Eggman must have been waiting for the Phantom Ruby to be at full power before he enacted out his plan."

Eggman growled in anger and frustration. Infinite had the nerve to defy him yet again. Eggman closed his eyes feeling the first wave of heat coming from the sun as he spied the jackal folding his arms across his chest shooting the doctor a smug look. Eggman clenched his fist for he was looking forward to putting the traitorous jackal through his robotomy treatment. For now, though Eggman couldn't pass up the chance to celebrate his enemies misfortune.

"Soon all of your pitiful lives will be over!" Eggman cried out gleefully. "This sun created by the Phantom Ruby will incinerate all of you to ashes. After your deaths, I'll round up every citizen on Mobius, and I will force them to yield to the power of the Phantom Ruby!"

* * *

Sonic and Gadget watched in horror at the sun slowly coming down. Gadget looked down at the palm of his hand seeing the Phantom Ruby Prototype glowing. Gadget looked over to the massive tower, at the Phantom Ruby prototype again. Mikhail, Chaser, and Sahara huddled together fighting off the wave of clones. A desperate plan formed in the wolf's mind one that had a low chance of working, but the wolf would still try it even if he died in the process.

"Sonic, I have a plan for us to get out of this mess," Gadget intoned. "I will need your help though. The plan is simple. I need to get to the top of that tower, and I need you to hold off Infinite in case he attacks us, so I can jump right into the virtual sun. If I'm close enough then the Phantom Ruby prototype should cancel out the effects of Infinite's Phantom Ruby prototype."

"It sounds risky, and I'm not a fan of letting you carry out this crazy plan," Sonic said a hint of worry in his voice. "But I will admit it's the only chance we got. We can make it to that tower, and if you pull this off, I think nobody will call you a rookie anymore."

Gadget looked at Sonic's stretched out first before he returned the fist bump. The wolf hesitated his face betrayed an expression of distress searching for the right words to say as he let out a low sigh. Looking at the small, confident smile on Sonic's face. Ever since Gadget joined the Resistance, he recalled how naïve and careless he'd been back, then how his anxiety held him back. But as time went on Gadget felt his confidence returning, and finding his brother Mikhail, the memory of their reunion warmed the wolf's heart. Gadget allowed a small tear to slip down the side of his muzzle as he breathed in.

"Hey Sonic, can you promise me something?"

Sonic paused the small smile fading away from his face. Gadget set the Phantom Ruby prototype on the ground. The red wolf then reached down for his utility belt unclipping it pulling the tan leather over his head sliding it over his ears looking at it sadly. Gadget handed it over to Sonic with Kaito watching them having come to a conclusion what Gadget was planning to do.

"Gadget, what are you doing?" Sonic asked fearfully.

"Sonic, if I don't make it back," Gadget said sadly his eyes wet with unshed tears. "Please give this to Mikhail. And please let him know he's not the worst half-brother in the world."

"Don't say that!" Sonic gripped Gadget's shoulder giving it a light squeeze. "You're stronger than you think you are!"

Tails and Mikhail hurried over to them. Mikhail stared over at Gadget having heard the whole conversation, his eyes already watering with the unshed tears. Mikhail pulled Gadget to him throwing his arms around Gadget, hugging him tightly with hot tears streaming down his face. Gadget noticed Mikhail's shoulder shaking with unrepressed emotion. A second impact told Gadget Kaito embraced him as well the small tears slipping down his muzzle wrapping his tail around Gadget.

"Gadget, no, I've just got you back, and I can't lose you again!" Mikhail screamed in anguish tears running down his face. "We've both lost our parents; you're the only family member I have left. Please let me take the Phantom Ruby prototype up to the fake sun."

Mikhail fumbled for the Phantom Ruby prototype holding it in the palm of his hand willing it to activate. Mikhail closed his eyes the tears still running down his face he recalled with stabbing guilt he'd almost lost his brother once back in Metropolis. The chance he could lose Gadget for good caused Mikhail to weep profusely.

"It won't work Mikhail," Tails said sadly. "The Phantom Ruby Prototypes will only react to the person who activated them first. Gadget was the first one to come into contact with his prototype. By my estimations, if we're all going together, then we have ten minutes to get to the top of that tower."

"Gadget, I'm with you until the end," Kaito said solemnly. "You're the best adoptive brother I've ever had."

Sonic, Gadget, Kaito, and Mikhail, and Tails broke into a run across the vast grey plateau heading towards the massive tower. Meanwhile, high above them, the sun loomed ever so slowly closer to the Resistance. Infinite hovered in the air watching the sun's descent letting out a low cough. The only emotion within Infinite was happiness surging in his chest with how close Infinite's dream of seeing the desolate wasteland would finally happen and no one could stop him.

* * *

 _Author's note When I played Forces for the first time I fully expected the Avatar character to die since it would've been an emotional impact on the Resistance since they bonded with the Avatar throughout the game. I feel that there should've been a scene after Infinite summoned the virtual sun where Sonic and the Avatar talk about the potential sacrifice the Avatar was going to make. I wanted to explore that possibility, and no one will die, but there will be some emotional moments ahead in the next few chapters. _

_It is an emotional strain on Mikhail and the Resistance since in the former's case he is about to lose his only living family member, Kaito is going to lose his brother, and the Resistance is facing death at the hands of the virtual sun._

 _Eggman's and Infinite's partnership has officially dissolved since Infinite has made his move at long last. Eggman is also affected by the Phantom Ruby's illusion, but he chooses to hide his fear by acting like the Phantom Sun was his idea, in reality, it's not._

 _As per usual Constructive criticisms **,** thoughts/reviews are appreciated and welcomed. I will talk to you guys with the next update since we only have a few chapters left of the war arc. _


	28. Into the heart of the illusion

_Author's note._

 _I'm back once more with another chapter. I'm sorry for the delay life's been hectic recently since a lot's been going on in my life, and having a slight case of writer's block didn't help at all. I've overcome it now, so at least this chapter is here._

 _As per usual I would like to give a thank you to The GameNGuyener, Turquoise Triangle, Andrew Williams, Guest, bajy, Keyblade Writer of the Dawn, YamiChaos 27, and Black Twilight Wolf for the reviews. Over 200 reviews? I'm speechless. I never even imagined I would reach this achievement and it wouldn't have been possible without your support. From the bottom of my heart, all I can say is thank you all so much._

 _A huge thank you to Andrew Williams and MagicalAstronmer for leaving a favorite on this story_

 _However, there is an essential notice in my post chapter note, and I apologize in advance for it._

 _With no more delays, let's get into the next chapter since the war arc is coming to a close, with only four chapters remaining after this one, before we move onto the postwar arc with some more twists and turns for the Resistance._

 _Disclaimer I do not own anything in the Sonic the Hedgehog series.  
_

* * *

An atmosphere of hopelessness surrounded the Resistance as the sun slowly inched down towards them getting closer a grim reminder that their deaths were minutes away. Espio threw several kunai at Quartz who ducked at the last second avoiding the knives. The jackal growled throwing his kunai forcing Espio to avoid them quickly turning invisible running straight at Quartz. Nephthys glanced up from her fight with Amy noticing with the horror of the sun bearing down spying Infinite hovering in the distance folding his arms smugly across his chest.

"Infinite's lost it!"

Saber looked up at the sound of Nephthys' exclamation of shock glancing up seeing the sun inching ever closer to them. In his heart, Saber felt pure terror. In all of his life, he'd never imagine Zerinn would ever gain the power to summon a virtual construct of the sun, and he used that power to burn everyone around him alive. Nephthys followed Saber's horrified gaze, her mouth agape.

It was hard to believe that after their tense reunion with Infinite a couple of hours ago Nephthys never imagined Infinite decided they need to die along with the Resistance. Nephthys fingered the shard of the Phantom Ruby Prototype around her neck nervously.

"Zerinn or Infinite whatever he wants to call himself now, he's not our boss anymore," Nephthys said in horror. "He's gone mad with power."

Whatever response Saber was about to come up with Shadow raced across the ground heading straight for them with Rouge, and Omega not too far behind him. The three jackals turned their gazes away from the sun racing across the rough stony ground to meet Team Dark head-on in battle.

Silver raced through the air coated in a cyan aura glancing back at Metal Sonic pursuing him through the air. The telekinetic hedgehog turned in the air grabbing a small boulder from the ground throwing it in Metal Sonic's direction missing the robot by mere inches. Metal Sonic wagged a finger taunting the psychic trying to goad Silver into making a mistake.

A flash of blue running up the side of the Imperial Tower caught Silver's attention. The telekinetic hedgehog spied Sonic's group making their way up the tower. Silver allowed a small smile of relief to appear on his face.

"Sonic's group's scaling up the side of the Imperial Tower!"

Cheers of relief and happiness erupted from the ground in response to Silver's statement. However, Silver's relief didn't last long with Metal Sonic charging at Silver once more forcing the psychic to engage Metal Sonic shifting his gaze from his robotic opponent to the small group scaling rapidly up the side of the tower the wall of intense heat getting closer as the sun descended towards the ground.

With every passing moment despite the brief hope igniting in the hearts of the Resistance, the truth was with the massive sun about to drop on them it would kill them all which was a sobering feeling for the Resistance looking up at the ever-looming threat of the sun creeping closer to the ground.

* * *

Infinite observed the sun slowly descending towards the Resistance folding his arms across his chest in self-satisfaction. Everything he'd been working for longing to see the desolate wasteland in the vision he'd seen so long ago during his first meeting with Eggman was about to come true. Infinite felt a cough building up in his throat quickly pushing up the corner of his mask to cough sharply.

"Soon the end will be upon them all," Infinite chuckled darkly. "The only thing they can do now is to make peace with their fate."

Infinite from his position glanced gauging everyone's reactions to their impending death. Spotting Eggman shooting him a murderous glare clenching his fist. Infinite turned his head locating a flash of blue fur ascending up the side of the Imperial Tower. Infinite allowed a smug grin upon spying Sonic leading the way with a determined expression on his face. The small group had almost reached the top of the tower. Something the jackal wouldn't allow the small group to dispel the sun.

"Even in the face of death the insects are trying to delay the inevitable," Infinite sneered. "It's a futile effort."

Infinite allowed a small, grim smile to appear underneath his mask. He descended towards their location standing in front of the pathway to the top of the tower.

Sonic led the way with Tails destroying any robots coming their way the sense of urgency in their mission made them feel even tenser. In the wolf's hands, the Phantom Ruby prototype gleamed.

"We've got company guys!"

Kaito's shout alerted the group to Infinite's presence who stood between them and the top of the tower. The jackal glowered running a pair of fingers along the surface of his Phantom Ruby drawing on its power ignoring the small crack along the surface of the gem. Everyone tensed preparing themselves for the inevitable fight against Infinite watching them silently.

"All of you are foolish pieces of trash," Infinite spoke slowly. "So you've chosen the option to suffer a painful death as the screams of your fear, and pain will be music to my ears. I am the strongest Deity in Mobius, and no one can stop me now."

"Nah, there's no way you're a Deity," Sonic grinned confidently. "I fought both Perfect Chaos and Dark Gaia, and believe me, they were way stronger than you. You're just a jackal in a bad clown mask, with a frail ego to match."

"You're still delaying your inevitable demise. Soon it will be the end, for all of you."

A magenta flash appeared from the Phantom Ruby as a false Zavok and Shadow landed in several meters ahead of them. Sonic, Gadget, Kaito, Mikhail, and Tails skidded to a stop near the pair of replicas. The false Shadow was the first to react breaking into a run lunging at Tails who ducked at the last second swiping at the false Shadow with his pair of tails.

Kaito leaped into action landing a kick against the fake Shadow replica slashing out with his flamberge scoring a direct hit on his left arm sending out several small red cubes into the air.

"You guys need to get going!" Tails called out to Sonic urgently. "We can hold these guys off. Gadget needs to disable that sun!"

Sonic froze in fear watching Zavok running towards Tails lunging out with his fist. Memories of the last time Tails engaged Zavok in battle almost resulted in Tails' death on the Death Egg when the Resistance rescued Sonic just over several weeks ago. Mikhail ran in to aid Tails with a Drill Wispon in hand attacking Zavok with it forcing the Zeti to back away from Tails.

"Just promise me one thing," Sonic called out to Tails. "Don't be so reckless with Zavok this time. I don't want a repeat of what happened on the Death Egg. I still dread what could've happened to you if Zavok struck a fatal blow on you. If you'd died man, it really would've been my fault."

Tails hurried over to give Sonic giving him a fist bump along with a gentle embrace.

"I'm worried that you may do something reckless too," Tails said. "We can't let Eggman win this war."

Sonic reluctantly let go of Tails kicking out at Zavok knocking the Zeti back landing a homing attack on the fake Shadow lashing out with several rapid kicks on the replica's face as payback for all the abuse Sonic suffered for the six months while he was a prisoner aboard the Death Egg. Infinite ascend to the sky throwing several small red balls striking various points on the ground nearly knocking Mikhail off the ledge. Kaito raced in pulling Mikhail back up to safe ground.

Tails slammed into the Shadow Replica knocking it off the side of the tower sending it plummeting into the abyss while luring the Zavok replica away from Gadget, Sonic, and Mikhail as Kaito joined in the fray. Gadget tapped Sonic lightly on the shoulder, giving him one last fist bump. Mikhail and Gadget exchanged a silent look an expression of grief and sorrow with Mikhail knowing he would never see Gadget again. Sonic broke into a sprint as Infinite chose that moment to dive towards Sonic colliding with each other both came crashing to the ground.

Sonic grappled with the jackal homing attacking Infinite the force of the knocked Infinite down to the ground. Gadget felt Infinite sink his claws slicing through the fur and skin leaving small trickles of blood. In response, the wolf kicked out at Infinite's body forcing the jackal to release him.

"I remember being weak and afraid," Infinite replied slowly coughing once more. "On the night I lost half my squad, I came to realize that friends are a fleeting illusion. I rely upon myself now."

"Zerinn please don't do this!" Gadget called out, "You're never weak. You gave in to your fear-"

"I am not weak!"

Infinite charged for Gadget knocking him off his feet. Gadget landed on his back the jackal landing on his chest pinning Gadget down. Gadget seized his chance to wrap his fingers around the smooth surface of the Phantom Ruby pulling hard at the ruby on Infinite's chest. Infinite felt the slight tug looking down at the determined glare on Gadget's face. The jackal quickly tried to punch Gadget only for a pulling sensation on his tail to interrupt his attack. A yelp filled the air as Infinite spun around to see Sonic pulling hard on Infinite's tail.

"Gadget get going!" Sonic called out jade eyes focusing on the single yellow eye. "You go on ahead; I'll handle Infinite!"

The wolf got to his feet; Infinite turned his attention from Gadget to Sonic letting out a loud cry of rage. Gadget resumed his mad dash finally reaching the top of the tower. Gadget swallowed nervously glancing down to see the tiny shapes of the Resistance still valiantly fighting against Eggman's army even with the threat of the sun looming overhead. Gadget winced at the blistering heat, the small trickles of sweat racing down his fur, the distant hum of the Egg mobile alerted him to Eggman's presence seeing the tyrant standing up in his vehicle a sinister smile on his face.

"It's time to for you all to make peace with your fate!" Eggman called out chuckling evilly. All of you put up a valiant fight so I will commend your efforts. I will make all of you an example of what'll happen to those who dare to cross me."

At that moment Gadget activated his grappling hook ascending into the sun. The pain that followed was intense for the wolf. Gadget winced at the waves of heat slamming into him. The smell of burning fur reached his nostrils; the wolf gasped out in a strangled cry of pain with his fingers almost fumbling on the Phantom Ruby prototype. Gadget held the gem up high willing it to cancel out the effects of the sun.

The gem glowed in response to his wish. The heat continued to burn away at his fur as he closed his eyes waiting for the end, the wave of magenta energy rushed from the prototype. In an instant, the searing heat faded away. Gadget opened his eyes wincing from the pain. The sun vanished revealing the gray stormy skies drifting overhead of the battlefield. Gadget smiled weakly, gravity taking hold of his body, the wolf activated his grappling hook focusing it on the edge of the tower.

Gadget felt a stinging pain, slowly turning his head to look down at the couple of the burned patches of skin along his back. The ugly patches of pale pink skin puckered with a red tinge stood out against his crimson fur, oozing blood and pus. Gadget winced letting a few small tears of pain slipping out from underneath his eyelids back to the tower.

"I did it," Gadget wheezed panting slightly. "The sun's gone. I never thought I would save them all."

The wolf continued to fall before remembering his grappling hook as he activated it latching on to the edge of the platform pulling himself up crashing against the surface of the tower laying on his side his eyes half open with pain, the Phantom Ruby prototype slipping from his fingers shattering against the ground.

Gadget let out a sigh laying there on his side his heart beating loudly in his chest a small, weak smile graced his lips, his mind wandering back to all the memories he'd spent with Sonic, Mikhail, and Zerinn, and the rest of the Jackal Squad. The wolf coughed feeling at peace for once in his life.

"I feel no longer afraid of anything."

* * *

Meanwhile, Knuckles lashed out with his fists punching away a pair of false Shadows along with Chaser, and Sahara to see the massive sun continuing to bear down on them for a few more moments, the small droplets of sweat trickled down the fur on his forehead. A desperate atmosphere hung in the air, the Resistance still opted to fight to reclaim their home.

"We can't give up now!" Knuckles called out hoping to encourage the Resistance to keep fighting.

Amy appeared briefly alongside Chaos calling out something pointing up at the sky as Knuckles risked glancing up at her pointing finger.

Knuckles saw a tiny red speck making its way into the sun. The intense heat of the sun lingered for a few more minutes; then it vanished revealing the slate grey clouds with the real sun's rays parting the clouds shining down on a tiny red blur making its way to the top of the Imperial Tower.

"The sun's gone!" Sahara broke the silence happily. "It's a miracle!"

Knuckles felt nothing, but relief at the sun disappearing. Loud cheers erupted from all around the Resistance army. Shadow allowed a small smirk. Several of the Resistance members hugged each other happy at avoiding certain death. Eggman's army looked up at the skies seeing Eggman's smile fade from his face slamming his hands on the console of the Egg Mobile taking of following the red trail of light.

"Well, look at that the rookie did it," Vector spoke relief in his tone. "Gadget proved himself. I didn't think he could do it."

Knuckles nodded in agreement, recalling when he'd first met the young wolf sitting terrified huddled up in a corner in RedGate City several weeks ago grieving the loss of his friends. Over time, the young wolf slowly shook off that fear, growing into a confident soldier one that stood shoulder to shoulder with the Resistance. A few members stopped to cheer and applaud for Gadget who'd been the once timid rookie, in the end, saved them all with his courageous actions.

"All right then, we can't let up now!" Knuckles cried out in excitement. "Show no mercy to Eggman's forces!"

Loud cheers erupted from the soldiers in response to Knuckles' words. When the loud noise died down they resuming their battle determined even more so to win the war to bring peace back to Mobius and to avenge all the lives lost in the struggle to reclaim Mobius. Silver winced in pain with Metal Sonic landing several blows on him sinking the metallic claws deep into Silver's left arm leaving bloody trails of blood running across Silver's arm causing him to drop down several meters in the air clutching his arm wincing.

Metal Sonic charged at Silver once more his claws raced to prepare to slice them across the hedgehog's throat. Silver quickly responded by waving his hands freezing Metal Sonic in place narrowing his eyes.

"I won't let you stop me from saving my future," Silver growled. "Not even you."

Silver grabbed Metal Sonic with his telekinesis throwing the robotic hedgehog down to the ground with all of his strength sending the robotic hedgehog skidding across the rough terrain. The Chaotix hurried over to Eggman's prized creation engaging him in battle preventing Metal Sonic from pursuing Silver with Espio shouting at Silver telling him to get to the top of the tower.

"If we win this war, then the future will be safe."

Silver pushed his powers to the limit to fly even faster through the air heading in the direction of the tower determined to reach the top to lend whatever help he could offer to Sonic's group.

* * *

"Come here, you impudent runt!"

Tails dodged out of the way of Zavok's mad grab, lashing out with his tails slicing through the Zeti's legs the rush of magenta cubes leaking out of the cut. Tails stood there panting with Zavok doing the same thing. Tails recalled the last encounter with how Zavok nearly killed him on board the Death Egg.

Mikhail and Kaito worked together to fend off alongside each other to ward off the fake Shadow's attacks. The replica summoned up several Chaos Spears throwing them at the two Mobians avoiding his attack, Kaito almost stumbling off the edge of the tower as Mikhail pulled him back by the wrist narrowly saving his life. Kaito muttered thank you to Mikhail.

"It's strange the Shadow replica never speaks," Kaito muttered taking two steps back. "I guess my brother must've hated Shadow so much, by having his replicas mute he saw it as revenge."

Tails kicked out at Zavok again flying up to him punching at one of his horns hearing the tip of it shattering. From his position Tails noticed a flash of red leaping up into the sky a determined expression on the young wolf's face heading into the virtual sun.

"Gadget!" Mikhail spoke softly trembling all over. "Please, be all right, don't die."

For a few sobering moments, nothing happened. The sun inched even closer to the ground as suddenly the sun vanished. Slate grey clouds filled the sky hearing the distant cheers coming from their allies celebrating the fact none of them would die. Mikhail used his Drill Wispon against the fake Zavok knocking him back, slipping past the Zeti racing ahead before he skidded to a sharp stop. Mikhail faced a moral dilemma. On the one hand, he didn't want to leave his allies to fight the battle on their own, but if Gadget by some miracle had survived, and if he was dying.

"Guys I'm sorry to leave you like this, but Gadget-"

"He needs you," Tails replied fending off another of Zavok's blows. "We can handle these two. If Gadget is dying, he'll want his brother at his side."

Mikhail nodded breaking into a fast sprint dodging all the traps Eggman set up to deter intruders, leaping over the small pits crackling with electricity running up the side of the tower a desperate plea forming at the back of his mind for his younger half-brother to be safe.

Pure desperation forced Mikhail to run even quicker up the side of the tower seeing both Sonic and Infinite turning their attention as the sun vanished a small red light heading down to the surface of the tower.

Sonic, Mikhail, and Infinite came to the top of the tower, looking over at the crumpled shape of Gadget lying still on the ground. Mikhail felt the small pit of dread forming in his stomach upon seeing Gadget lying still in front of him small pained gasps leaving his mouth. It hurt as he let a low, pained whimper slip from his mouth wishing for the pain to go away, weakly turning his head making eye contact with Mikhail.

A pair of footsteps ran over to Gadget's location looking up to see Mikhail with a hand over his mouth bending down gently his brother's hand giving it a gentle squeeze. Gadget smiled weakly returning the gesture.

"Gadget!" Mikhail said trembling with emotion. "It's a miracle you survived. Please don't do something this reckless ever again."

"I'm okay, I lived somehow," Gadget replied gently squeezing Mikhail's hand. "I won't ever do something like that again. I promise."

"Gadget are you okay?" Sonic asked in concern gently taking the wolf's hand pulling him to his feet. The wolf leaned up against Sonic gripping lightly against his fur noticing the utility belt on the hedgehog a small, tired smile on his face. Mikhail stood next to his sibling keeping the Drill Wispon pointed at Infinite a scowl forming on his face.

"I'm still alive, but I believe my back's burned pretty badly," Gadget replied his eyes half open from the pain.

"Impossible!" Infinite snarled punching a fist to the ground. "The Phantom Ruby prototypes are unstable; yours should've broken after a single use. This world needs to be reborn. It's a cruel world with its individuals betraying each other. The only source of strength you can rely on is yourself."

Gadget shook his head from side to side dismissing Infinite's words. The jackal lifted his head glaring at Gadget with his cracked mask he looked less of a threat. Infinite chose to still glare defiantly at Gadget his tail thudding in agitation.

"You gave in to your fear after losing half of your squad to Shadow," Gadget said firmly glaring at Infinite. "I also gave in to my fear after you killed my friends Infinite. When I first joined the Resistance, I felt so useless, unable to help anyone at all."

Gadet glanced over at Sonic who nodded giving the wolf confidence what to say next.

"I felt so weak, over time, I regained my confidence, thanks to Sonic and the other members in the Resistance who helped me overcome that fear," Gadget said. "You're not weak if you have to rely on others for help."

Infinite opened his mouth to retort only for a sudden sharp cough to fill the air with the masked jackal pushing up the corner of his mask reluctantly exposing his face coughing into the open palm of his hand.

"Why does this keep happening?" Infinite wheezed. "The Phantom Ruby gave me the ultimate strength. I shouldn't be falling ill like this."

As if to answer Infinite's question the Eggmobile appeared with Eggman at the controls of the vehicle with an expression on his face like he'd discovered something foul at the bottom of his shoe.

"You have a lot of nerve betraying me like that Infinite," Eggman frowned speaking in a low tone. "After everything I've done for you. The reason you've been ill is that I discovered the longer the Phantom Ruby remains attached to you, there are negative side effects, and it's the reason you've been ill."

For several minutes Eggman and Infinite stared at each other. Infinite's single eye widened processing the information. The jackal finally had an explanation for his sudden illness; he should have known Eggman had a part to play in it. A silent fury built up inside Infinite, the humiliation he felt at having his weakness exposed in front of his enemies. Eggman would be the first one to die, then everyone else in the cruel world he despised.

"You fat bastard," Infinite seethed. "When this whole war is over, I'll hunt you down to the ends of Mobius to end your life painfully."

"That's what you get for siding with Eggman," Sonic rebuked locking eye contact with Infinite.

"I will not go down like this," Infinite snarled hovering in the air. "Your plan was taking too long, Doctor; I will dispose of Sonic before you do. Sonic we'll have our last battle in Mortar Canyon once and for all. I will force you to yield to the power of the Phantom Ruby."

Infinite coughed again seething when he did so. Quickly Infinite spun around taking off into the direction of Mortar Canyon. Eggman growled banging a fist in frustration on the console for the second time in the day taking off in a trail of red light towards Mortar Canyon.

"That stubborn jackal, I thought he would be too weak at this point to even consider fighting back," Eggman growled turning back to Sonic. "I'll deal with you later. Right now I have a disobedient jackal to deal with."

Eggman took off with Sonic turning to face Gadet a tired, but determined expression on the wolf's face observing Infinite making his way towards a vast canyon in the distance staying well below the altitude of the ships engaged in the fierce dogfight raging on in the skies high above the battlefield. Gadget tried to get up ignoring Mikhail's plea for him to stay down and rest.

"I'll finish Infinite for good," Sonic spoke softly in a deadly tone. "Gadget, don't worry about anything else. The important thing is to get your injuries treated. It's official I guess no one can call you the rookie anymore."

Gadget opened his mouth to protest feeling a gentle squeeze on his wrist. Mikhail shook his head no silently pleading Gadget not to endanger himself. Gadget slowly closed his mouth leaning on Mikhail his older brother helping to stand up mindful of the burns on Gadget's back. Mikhail paused for a few moments to wipe away at the small tear running down the side of his face relieved his sole surviving family member was still alive.

"Good luck Sonic," Gadget said weakly. "We'll help Tails, and Kaito, further down the tower. You need to stop Infinite."

A flash of white fur appeared at the top of the tower as Silver ascended to the top of the tower with a look of concern on his face. Sonic looked on shock at the wounds leaking crimson blood on Silver's body. The telekinetic hedgehog ignored the pain of his cuts focusing his attention on Sonic.

"Sonic! We need you down at the bottom now!" Silver said in a panic. "Infinite's heading towards Mortar Canyon, and he's already killed several Resistance soldiers. I'll take you down there so you can deal with Infinite once and for all!"

Silver waved his hand wrapping sonic up in the cyan glow lifting the hedgehog of his feet. Sonic's mouth formed a small o of surprise as Silver towed him quickly down to the ground. Sonic turned his head briefly to look back at Mikhail placing a hand around Gadget's shoulders carefully as to avoid touching his burns. Gadget slung his left arm around Mikhail's shoulders the two brothers slowly began to make their descent down the side of the tower.

"Whoa, I'd hate to be on the receiving end of your power," Sonic said trying to make conversation. " So I bet you'd be able to lift a few cars and sling them around like it was nothing."

"I've thrown a few cars around to destroy the robots back in my future," Silver admitted. "Let's say my abilities came in handy when I needed them the most."

The two hedgehogs quickly descended to the ground. The second Sonic's feet touched the ground he gazed around at the battlefield swarming with Resistance soldiers and Phantom Ruby illusions. Sonic spied a flash of black and white fur continuing to head toward Mortar Canyon, the bodies of the dead soldiers who bravely made a stand against Infinite only to lose their lives.

Sonic silently clenched his fists bowing his head slightly in mourning for the Mobians who'd lost their lives. The hedgehog took off at a fast sprint pursuing Infinite across the barren wasteland taking out several more Phantom Ruby Illusions standing in his way between him and his target. Sonic's heartbeat in anticipation for his final battle with Infinite.

Eggman glared down at Sonic his face contorting in anger. The meddlesome hedgehog below him foiled his plans again and again, but Infinite had tried to kill him to seize control of his empire for himself to bring about his desolate wasteland. Eggman seethed silently having missed his brush with death.

"Creating that sun certainly has drained the Phantom Ruby prototype's energy," Eggman muttered. "With his illness affecting him, it shouldn't be too much of a problem for me to subdue Infinite for good."

Eggman grinned at the prospect at making Infinite pay for his betrayal. The thought brought a sinister smile to his face. The Phantom Ruby rested in his pocket a chuckle Once he had dealt with Infinite once and for all. Eggman's next step would be unleashing his secret weapon, eliminating not just Sonic, but all of his enemies out in one fell swoop. Once everyone in the Resistance was dead, Mobius would finally be under to his rule unopposed without Sonic, or any of his friends to stand in his way ever again.

* * *

Author's note.

 _I will say that this was a tough chapter for me to write since one of the hurdles focusing on was how to handle Gadget's near sacrifice. In the game, I thought it was odd how that the Avatar mostly was unscathed by heading into a virtual sun except being a little tired they somehow were able to aid Sonic in the final battle against Infinite, and the Death Egg Robot._

 _Even though Gadget avoided his near-death experience, he won't be walking away from it unscathed because he will have those burn scars on his back for the rest of his life. Mikhail cares deeply for Gadget since both of them are orphans, and his biggest fear is losing Gadget. It's a relief for Mikhail knowing Gadget survived._

 _The conversation between Sonic and Silver about Silver throwing cars is a reference to Silver's boss fight in Sonic Generations where he does throw cars at Sonic, and its one of my favorite boss fights in the whole series._

 _I do have plans for the third fight with Infinite to take a different route since it's not going to be a rehash of the Metal Sonic fight we got in the game when it could've been something so much more._

 _Now, guys, I'm sorry about this, but I'm going to be busy with my job, and a summer activity program which I help out with for the next several weeks. However, this means I'll only be able to update one chapter of the Illusionary Resistance once a week. This job will last until the end of summer, and we will go back to the usual upload schedule for this story._

 _As per usual Constructive criticism/thoughts/ reviews are welcomed and appreciated, and I will see you guys next week with the next chapter._


	29. Beneath the Mask

_Author's note. Hello, guys, I'm back once more. As I've mentioned in my profile it's that time of year where I'm busier than usual, so my updates may come a little later than usual. I'm sorry about it too._

 _As always a big thank you to TGN, SD321, Alexandria Prime, Yami Chaos 27, Sylas, Clyde Pango, SharpDragonKlaw, Keyblade Writer of the Dawn, bajy, Black Twilight Wolf and Turquoise Triangle for the reviews._

 _Also a thank you goes out to PetsnanaG and Itsthecap for leaving both a favorite and a follow on this story. Your support genuinely does mean a lot to me, and I'm happy to see that you're enjoying this story._

 _Without further ado here is chapter 29, and things are slowly going to get intense as we approach the final battle_.

* * *

Several loud explosions greeted Sonic the second he raced into Mortar Canyon taking in the sight of the massive metallic platforms stretched all over the area. All around him projectiles launched into the massive canyon walls sending small showers of rocks, raining down the sides of the canyon. Sonic glanced up hearing the sounds of the aerial battle raging high in the skies above him.

"The Phantom Ruby must've used up a ton of energy after Infinite used it to call down the virtual sun," Tails' voice crackled over the intercom. "If the Phantom Ruby's power is weakened now's your chance to defeat Infinite for good."

Sonic barely heard Tails' words over the noise of the loud explosions nearly rendering him deaf. From the corner of his eye, Sonic glimpsed the Egg Mobile. Eggman glowered at him pressing several small buttons along the console of the Eggmobile firing several small rounds of bullets aimed at Sonic. The blue blur put on a burst of speed avoiding the laser blasts.

"You blue pest! Why do you never give up?"

Sonic glowered ignoring Eggman's question. Emerald eyes were darting back and forth searching for any sign of Infinite. Sonic shuddered. Somewhere he sensed the jackal was watching him waiting for his moment to strike. A flash of the grey chrome mask appeared briefly in the shadows before Infinite vanished from sight again.

"Huh, I didn't know Infinite is too weak to face me in a one-to-one fight!"

At Sonic's words, a scream of protest erupted from the shadows followed by an enraged Infinite hovering there throwing several red balls at Sonic. The hedgehog dodged them effortlessly. Infinite teleported over to Sonic's location reaching for Sonic's ankle, wrapping his fingers around Sonic's ankle squeezing hard. In response, Sonic lashed out with his feet landing a kick against Infinite's ribs.

"You'll pay for that you blue rat!"

In that instant Sonic's gaze darted down to the Phantom Ruby on Infinite's chest. Sonic seized the opportunity to notice something odd about the Phantom Ruby. A small crack was forming down the middle of the Phantom Ruby. Infinite ascended into the air again drawing on the power of the Phantom Ruby. A wave of magenta energy spilled from the Phantom Ruby forcing Sonic to close his eyes. Wincing at a pounding headache tearing throughout Sonic's skull the ringing in the hedgehog's ears fading away to be replaced with a low, menacing hiss.

Sonic fully opened his eyes in time to see a fanged mouth belonging to a red and black snake racing towards him. Sonic ran out of the way barely avoiding the snake's strike. The hedgehog quickly pivoted in place to see a giant black and red snake wrapping its body around the platform. The snake hissed shaking its head wincing from colliding with the metal platform. Turning its head towards Sonic its tongue flickering in and out of its mouth. Sonic shuddered to remember when he and Gadget almost became snake food in Mystic Jungle.

"You damn traitor!" Eggman growled. "I'll show you what happens to traitors in my empire!"

Eggman cried out pressing a small button firing off several rounds at the snake. The snake hissing in response flinching from Eggman's assault. In return, it lunged at the Egg Mobile forcing Eggman to avoid the massive fangs. Eggman made eye contact with the traitorous jackal hearing Infinite coughing as the image vanished into a shower of red cubes.

Infinite cursed his illness. It was caused him to be unable even maintain even an illusion of a snake. Infinite glanced up glaring defiantly back at Eggman.

"It's funny that you mention betrayal Doctor," Infinite rebuked. "You lied to me about my condition. You made me look weak. I'll make both you and the blue buffoon's deaths agonizing as I can."

Infinite unleashed a small wave of red cubes sending it in Eggman's direction. The jackal turned his attention from Eggman back to Sonic holding a hand out forming a small ball of red light as several red lasers shot out from the palm of his hand striking the ground. Sonic felt the stinging heat from the laser graze the lower quills on his back rolling out of the way seeing a flash of black and silver boots slam into the ground inches away from Sonic's head the blue hedgehog heard the sharp exclamation of frustration.

The battle raged between Sonic, and Infinite with Eggman turning around in his vehicle taking the occasional shot at his enemies, only gritting his teeth in frustration whenever he missed his targets.

"Heh, both of you're still too slow to hit anything. You're nothing more than a masked clown."

"I still have enough strength to crush you into blue jelly!"

Sonic grinned having taunted Infinite into attacking him hearing the Phantom Ruby being activated seeing the two stacks of red cubes rushing at him forcing the hedgehog to jump over them. Infinite dived towards the blue hedgehog grabbing him roughly around the arm bending it backward placing a foot on his back pinning Sonic to the ground.

"The last sensations you'll feel on this planet are fear and pain."

Sonic lay flat on his stomach before he lashed out with a kick against Infinite's shin hearing the hiss of pain, the tight grip released on Sonic. The hedgehog rolled out of the way of Infinite's next attack.

"You're more-"

Sonic didn't have time to finish his sentence seeing Eggman firing off several rounds from the Egg Mobile forcing Sonic and Infinite to resume their fight running down the length of Mortar Canyon with Eggman in pursuit of them determined to put an end to both Sonic and Infinite.

* * *

Tails ducked down avoiding Zavok's punch as Kaito lunged in slicing away at the Zeti's flesh watching in grim satisfaction the small red cubes gushing out of the Zeti's flesh hearing Zavok bellow in pain. Kaito ran in for the kill jamming the top of his weapon into the Zeti's back followed up by another loud, pained bellow.

"A two on one battle is not honorable!" Zavok bellowed getting to his feet lashing out with his tail swiping Kaito of his feet sending the jackal crashing down onto his chest injury. Kaito let out a pained yelp rubbing at the area he'd landed on getting to his feet glowering at the Zeti, feeling a pair of fingers wrapping themselves around his ears lifting him off the ground his yellow eyes ablaze with fury turning his head to look at Zavok.

"You'll be the first-"

Tails slammed into Zavok the force of the shove caused him to drop Kaito kicking out again at the Zeti. The second kick sent the fake Zavok plunging to his death. Zavok let out one last scream fading away into the distance seeing the shower of red cubes racing up from where the Zeti had fallen leaving a small satisfied smile to grace Kaito's face.

For a few moments, Kaito glanced up at the dark grey skies his mind immediate wandering over to Gadget dreading Mikhail's return. He could already picture the expression on his adoptive brother's face, the unshed tears building up in Mikahil's eyes, mentally preparing for the news of Gadget's death. The only thing he would be able to take comfort in was Gadget died a hero's death.

"Tails! Kaito!"

Kaito's head shot up his eyes full in disbelief upon seeing Gadget limply slightly smiling with Mikhail keeping his younger half-brother close to him. Kaito stared in disbelief at the sight of Gadget. Kaito's whole body shook with emotion. Kaito paused before he broke into a run wrapping Gadget up into an embrace. A pained yelp showed Gadget's pain. A sheepish smile graced Kaito's face letting go of Gadget.,

"Gadget! Oh man, I can't believe it!" Kaito said emotionally. "I thought you died."

"Can you please watch my back, please? " Gadget whimpered. "I'm so sorry to have made both of you worry like that."

The brief jovial mood at Gadget's safe return was more than enough to reassure Kaito and Mikhail holding out their hands allowing Gadget to squeeze their hands gently. The small gesture of comfort put his adoptive brothers at ease both of then showing relief he was safe.

Shadow used Chaos Control teleporting through the air destroying several of his replicas with ease. Sharp crimson eyes picked out the distant shapes of Sonic and Infinite fighting. Also, he glimpsed the Egg Mobile hovering around the area with Eggman at the controls of his vehicle.

A Metal Sonic replica charged at him as Shadow fired of several Chaos Spears destroying it before he came to land on the rocky terrain.

"Sonic is fighting Infinite," Shadow stated. "Sonic's not only dealing with just Infinite. Eggman's attacking both of them as well."

Silence fell over the area the only sounds were the Resistance soldiers still fighting against Eggman's forces as a few minutes passed before Shadow turned around facing the entrance to Mortar Canyon.

"I'll go," Shadow said having decided what he would do next. "If Tails and Knuckles want to come along with, me then both of them should keep up."

Without waiting for an answer Shadow sped ahead to the entrance of Mortar Canyon. Shara hurried over pausing to examine Gadget's back with the wolf holding still. A gasp of shock escaped Sahara's lips at the sight of the burns that stood out against the red fur. Gadget moaned in pain his eyes closed, Mikhail silently took Gadget's hand in his own giving it a gentle squeeze speaking to him in a reassuring tone.

"Commander I need to take Gadget back to the ship so I can tend to his wounds," Sahara said. She turned on her heel lashing out with her Lightning Wispon destroying a Zavok Replica. "Besides, if Infinite's killed then, it should put an end to these constant Replicas."

"Fine then, we'll provide aid to Sonic. Sahara you escort Gadget, and the others back to the ship," Knuckles commanded punching a Chaos Replica in the brain watching it burst apart in liquid and cubes. "We'll help Sonic put a jackal down for good."

Espio, and Amy hurried over to Knuckles and Tails the sheen of sweat on his fuchsia scales stood out along with the small lacerations along Espio's sides. The chameleon hunched over panting for breath. Amy bore several cuts on her pink fur, her jade eyes filled with concern.

"Commander, so far we've lost four percent of our forces in this battle," Espio panted. "We may need to plan a strategic retreat. If you depart, then we need someone else to command our forces."

"What about Silver?" Knuckles asked. "He's proven that he's worthy for the job."

Amy shook her head from side to side dismissing Knuckles' suggestion. The pink hedgehog turned her head indicating a flash of white fur engaging Metal Sonic in combat. The Telekinetic hedgehog looked exhausted the cyan glow beginning to fade away from his fur, before somehow finding the strength to levitate a ball of debris throwing it at Metal Sonic avoiding the blow.

"He's busy fending off the real Metal Sonic, with Vector, Charmy, and Chaser," Amy said. "Rouge, Chaos, Omega and several units of our forces are pinned down by those three jackals along with a small group of replicas. Knuckles you can't seriously be leaving us in the middle of a battle, who will lead our forces if you help Sonic?"

An idea came to the Guardians' mind. Amy looked back at Knuckles waiting for his answer. Knuckles closed his eyes pondering deeply on who would be suitable as the answer came to him. Both Amy and Espio had proven they would be able to take command of their forces, temporarily during this final decisive battle to liberate Mobius from Eggman's grasp.

"Amy, and Espio can the two of you be able to take command briefly of our forces?"

"You can count on us," Amy said reassuringly." Besides, I'm the one who has kept the Resistance organized. Just be careful, and I know that you'll come back safely."

Tails saw the small smile on Amy's face as Espio nodded. The tense expression on Knuckles' face faded away. The Guardian hadn't even realized he was clenching his fists. Amy and Espio over the course of the long war proved to be efficient fighters in the Resistance as both of them were respected within the Resistance. Amy for her calm nurturing personality, and Espio for being one of their most skilled fighters.

"Thanks, guys I promise you we will help Sonic defeat Infinite."

After expressing his gratitude Knuckles and Tails began their journey towards the raging melee dispatching several Metal Sonic and Chaos replicas in their path. The real Chaos appeared alongside several Resistance soldiers, destroying several more of his fakes mowing his way through the tightly packed forces allowing Knuckles and Tails to make their way towards Mortar Canyon.

"I'm going to!"

Gadget tried to break into a run only to stop gasping in pain feeling a gentle hand placed on his shoulder. Sahara quickly pulled him back shaking her head from side to side. The maned wolf squeezed lightly on Gadget's shoulder stopping him from running into the battlefield risking making his injuries worse.

"I'm sorry Gadget, I can't let you go," Sahara said firmly. "Not in your condition, and trust me you've done plenty already. I'm not taking no for an answer."

Sahara gently wrapped an arm around Gadget leading him away with Mikhail at his side speaking to him kindly. Kaito hung back hesitating seeing Amy and Espio running back into the melee giving out the order. Kaito hung back at the rear of the group lashing out at the Metal Sonic replica slashing it across the middle smirking as he did so watch the weakened Metal Sonic replica explode into a shower of red cubes.

"You may not have been the real deal, but after having my shard ripped out of my chest, that felt good."

Kaito smiled grimly running to keep up with the group. The jackal knew he would have to rejoin the fray later, but for now, his primary goal was to escort his friends back to safety.

* * *

Sonic gritted his teeth breaking into a run chasing down Infinite. Even with his illness, the jackal seemed determined to keep on fighting until the end. It was clear Eggman wanted them both dead by attacking them both. Eggman glowered at Infinite his lips curled up into an ugly sneer tightening his fingers around the controls.

"You're nothing more than a pathetic blue rat!"

Sonic gritted his teeth realizing too late he was about to run into a stack of red cubes the red haze washed over his vision. Sonic forced his eyes open staring at the burning wasteland with the horizon stretching out as far the eye could see. The hedgehog didn't have to look far to see the dead bodies lying there on the ground with several lasers tearing through the field. Amy, Knuckles, Tails, the Chaotix, Team Dark, Gadget, Silver, Mikhail, Kaito, Chaser, and Sahara.

Sonic gritted his teeth putting on another burst of speed waiting for the illusion to fade away before he was homing attacked coming into contact with solid black and white fur yanking hard at Infinite's dreadlocks. Infinite retaliated with a kick knocking Sonic down to the robust platform almost knocking the wind out of him.

"Stop showing me those illusions of my dead friends," Sonic hissed venom seeping into his voice. "I find it hard to believe that you and Gadget used to be friends with each other."

"Friendships are a fleeting thing," Infinite rebuked. "My friendship with that child was an illusion. I've learned to rely on myself."

Sonic didn't have time to come up with a retort before the jackal kicked out at Sonic again this time his foot connecting with Infinite's face hearing the crunch the mask made underneath Sonic's foot. A sudden blast of the chest slammed into Sonic slammed to the ground with Infinite pressing his foot down on top of Sonic's back hearing the sound of metal hitting the ground. Sonic didn't have to turn his head full well knowing another piece of Infinite's mask landed on the ground.

Sonic kicked out connecting with Infinite's stomach hearing the pained gasp. The jackal bent over, panting letting out a sharp cough pushing his mask up with two of his fingers glaring at Sonic. Neither of them said a word. Sonic got to his feet breaking into a run towards Infinite the two of them ran alongside each other exchanging attacks with Infinite throwing the occasional stream of red cubes in Sonic's direction, who avoided them at the last second.

"You've done nothing, but torture me for six months," Sonic snarled. "From what I've heard from Shadow, you couldn't handle one defeat, and you threw a tantrum screaming that you weren't weak. I've got news for you Infinite you are weak,"

At that moment something inside of Infinite snapped. The jackal raised his arms preparing to attack Sonic again. Tails appeared from out of nowhere diving down out of the sky slamming into Infinite knocking the jackal over onto his back. Knuckles raced in his fists raised aiming a blow at Infinite's mask driving a fist into Infinite's face the force of the punch knocked Infinite on his back wincing from the pain.

"That was for all of the people you killed in Operation Big Wave."

Shadow ran in landing a punch on Infinite's ribs. The jackal retaliated with a kick feeling Tails pounding on Infinite's back avoiding the kick aimed at his head. Infinite pivoted around grabbing on Shadow's hands only for the Ultimate life form to kick him away again.

"It's all over Sonic," Infinite sneered. "The Phantom Ruby's power's been recharged. Now all of you will be begging to die when I'm through with you!"

Infinite flung his arms out drawing on the Phantom Ruby's power getting ready to unleashed one last attack. No one noticed the shadow of the Egg Mobile falling overhead with Eggman grinning lifting up his finger to press down on the button. As the tip of his thumb grazed the surface of the switch, Suddenly the Phantom Ruby turned on Infinite, a wave of magenta energy erupted from the Phantom Ruby engulfing Infinite who screamed in pure agony.

The surge of energy slammed into Infinite. The intense pain ripped through Infinite's body the yellow iris widened in shock, the force of the Phantom Ruby's power lifted him up into the air. Infinite threw back his head screaming in agony. Infinite's torment didn't last long, as the wave of magenta energy dissipated leaving the jackal being dragged down by gravity his body hitting the hard terrain. Infinite barely had time to get to his knees the ruby pulsing against his chest, panting for breath.

Much to Sonic's horror a magenta hologram of a sword appeared hanging over the jackal-like a guillotine. Before anyone could even move the sword swung down cutting into Infinite's fur scoring deep lacerations against the skin slicing through black and white fur leaving dark red blood welling in the gashes. The sword repeated this process six times before it vanished in a shower of red cubes. The pain forced Infinite to slump to his knees holding his head in the palm of his hands.

"Stop it! I can still fight!"

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow watched in silent horror the jackal writhed in pure unrestrained agony until a loud crack filled the air, as the Phantom Ruby on Infinite's chest broke in half down the middle. The jackal threw his head back letting out one last scream before slumping over onto the ground his eye closed. Blood oozed from the small cuts his sides rose and fell unevenly exposing the broken Phantom Ruby Prototype.

"No way I can't believe this!"

Eggman brought the Egg Mobile to the ground jumping out of it running over to the limp jackal lifting him up with a grunt turning Infinite over to get a good look at the broken Phantom Ruby Prototype making a noise of disgust as he did so.

"That idiot came to rely on too much on the finalized prototype," Eggman snarled. "I only hoped he suffered since I activated that device which should've kept him in line. He was a betraying piece of weak trash."

Eggman opened his arms allowing the jackal to fall to the ground with a thud stepping over the unconsciousness jackal making sure to kick him on the back. Eggman turned his attention towards Sonic and the others a scowl forming on his face.

"We will win this war Eggman," Sonic said his tone low. "You will lose in the end. It's always how our battles end with me winning and you running back to your base, plotting out your next plan."

"I'm not surrendering control over Mobius that easily Sonic," Eggman rebuked. "Infinite was never my end goal in the first place. I still have one last trick up my sleeve."

Eggman hurried back to his vehicle taking off into the dark grey skies. A low moan caught Sonic's attention. Infinite began to stir weakly lifting his head blearily staring at the retreating form of the EggMobile struggling to get to his feet only to collapse back down to the ground with a pained cry.

"Well, at least you know now know what its like to experience pain and fear for once."

Infinite weakly glowered at Sonic's words. The jackal lay there bleeding out slowly on the ground. Infinite clenched his fist feeling his claws digging into the leather hearing the fabric creak in protest.

"So, all of you have come to finish me off?" Infinite coughed weakly. "Hmph, it figures. You wouldn't even have the damn guts to take a life. I've killed thousands, helped that fat bastard enslave this planet. I'm not weak; the damn Phantom Ruby turned on me. My squad and my former friend did the same. I was the strongest being in all of Mobius."

"Oh, believe me, I'd happily take your life."

Knuckles took several steps towards Infinite raising a fist happy to fulfill the jackal's wish. A hand on his shoulder pulled him back as Shadow withdrew the Chaos Emerald a small yellow spear forming in the palm of his hand. In Shadow's mind killing Infinite would be a mercy, as long as the jackal remained alive he would still pose a threat to everyone on Mobius, besides the sooner he was separated from the now shattered ruby on his chest, he would no longer be a threat to anyone.

"Kill me, Just let me die!" Infinite screamed in anger. "Half of my squad is dead, I was the strongest, and now I am nothing."

Shadow took a step forward his eyes traveling down over the deep bleeding cuts. Infinite refused to look at any of them his sides heaving blood leaking down his sides. Infinite staggered to his feet attempting to stand only for his knees to give out sending him crashing to ground with a pained cry.

"I know that none of you will like what I'm going to suggest," Sonic spoke up glaring at Infinite. "We could take him in as a hostage."

"Are you crazy?" Knuckles yelled in protest. "After everyone this monster's killed. Sonic he helped Eggman torture you for six months! Have you lost your mind?"

"No, I don't Knux," Sonic said tiredly. "But I doubt he can hurt anyone else in his condition. Besides, he deserves to be locked away for good, where no one else will have to worry about being murdered by him."

Sonic shook his head taking in the injured jackal's state. The wads of blood stuck to his fur, the yellow iris narrowed. Sonic defiantly returned the jackal's stare. Secretly Sonic shared Knuckle's sentiment. Infinite should die, but the hedgehog realized death would be a mercy. Sonic heard the cough Infinite emitted shuddering as he did so.

"We could lock him away in a secure G.U.N facility," Tails said. Besides, we might be able to remove the Phantom Ruby stripping Infinite of his power. If he's locked up, then he won't be a threat to anyone else."

"I agree with Tails," Shadow said. "Infinite claims that I killed half the members in his squad. What he says is true. I can use Chaos Control to teleport both of us back to where the rest of the Resistance is."

"I don't need either your damn sympathy or mercy."

"It's not mercy or sympathy," Shadow replied in response to Infinite's statement. "After everything you've done, being locked away is the best case scenario for you Infinite."

Shadow removed the Chaos Emerald from his quills hurrying over to where Infinite lay was tightly gripping him by the wrist pulling him to his feet ignoring the jackal's weak struggles to break free closing his eye. The jackal faintly heard Shadow mutter Chaos Control the two of them vanished in bright light.

"I hope this idea endangers no more lives Sonic."

Sonic heard the concern in Knuckles' voice. The hedgehog found his gaze drawn back to the Imperial Tower in the distance. The tower was large and imposing, the thought Eggman was somewhere in there preparing for his next move, the one he claimed would wipe out the Resistance, Sonic looked over at Tails standing beside him in silence.

"I hope so too Knux, at least Infinite's been dealt with for now," Sonic replied. "Besides, we still need to take Eggman down once and for all."

"Sonic, Infinite may have been defeated, but Eggman has the Phantom Ruby," Tails stated fearfully. "There's no telling what he'll do with the power of the Phantom Ruby."

"We still can't give in to our fear," Sonic said calmly. "Eggman doesn't have Infinite at his side. Besides, we can still beat him and win this war. I can't wait to see, Eggman running back to his lab plotting out his next scheme."

Sonic held out a fist for a fist bump with Tails and Knuckles nodding to each other reassured by Sonic's words. Tails saw the faint scars still on Sonic's fur. The speedster had been through hell and back, but despite everything that's happened to him he was still Sonic.

"You're right there's still a chance we can win this war."

Tails and Knuckles returned the fist bump the three of them headed back the way they make their way past the traps leading back to Imperial Tower with the final battle looming above them. All three of them were ready to end this war and to reclaim their home.

* * *

Author's _note The final battle with Infinite I will admit is my least favorite boss fight in the game. It had so much potential to highlight what a threat Infinite is, but we got a copy paste of the Metal Sonic boss fight instead. Rewriting the final boss fight with Infinite, in fact, was another one of my goals. I never planned for Infinite to vanish after his boss fight since having him captured by the Resistance._

 _The rest of the Resistance is going to have a role to play in the upcoming final battle. They're not going to sit on the sidelines._

 _I decided to have Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails go together to confront Eggman was always my intention. I love the connection these three have with each other In the next few chapters will get intense since Eggman is not going to go down without a fight._

 _As per usual constructive criticism/ thoughts and reviews are appreciated and welcomed. I will see you guys soon with the next chapter next week._


	30. Beginning of the end

_Author's note._ _I would like to give a thank you to TGN, SD321, YamiChaos 27, AlexrandriaPrime, bajy, Pyrein, Turquoise Triangle,mari3451, BlackTwilightWolf, SharpDragonKlaw and Keyblade Writer of the Dawn for leaving a review._

 _Also a big thank you goes out to fanakatsuki, Readerfever, WaffleGal, WinxPossible, and Amazing Spectacular Spiderman for leaving a favorite or a follow on this story. I genuinely appreciate the support that all of you have shown this story._

 _I do have another notice down at the bottom of the page, and I apologize in advance for it._

 _Disclaimer I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. The only things I do own are my ocs and the plot._

 _Well with no more delays, including this chapter there are only three more parts left to the take back the planet arc, and then we'll be moving onto the post-war arc_.

* * *

Eggman's footsteps echoed off the metal pathway heading deeper into the depths of Imperial tower hearing the dull explosions rocking the tower's foundations causing dust to fall from the ceiling. Eggman hurried on ahead down the corridor the Phantom Ruby clasped in his hand his grip tightening on the gemstone feeling it pulse in the palm of his hand. One thought crossed the mad scientist's mind. If the Resistance genuinely believed toppling his empire would be possible he was determined to eliminate the Resistance once and for all.

"I'm not going down without a fight."

Eggman hurried past the lab ignoring the glow of several bright blue tubes illuminating the bare room. From the second room down the hallway, Eggman briefly glimpsed Orbot and Cubot polishing the canisters so engrossed in cleaning the glass surface they didn't notice Eggman hurrying past them a scowl set on the human's face.

Eggman took a left down the long corridor coming to a stop in front of a large room hurriedly typing in something on the keypad hearing a low hiss allowing the human to enter the desolate place. Eggman's footsteps echoed off the floor, hurrying towards the giant white robot the tendrils moved from side to side. The bright blue optic slowly opened zeroing in on the Phantom Ruby.

"The Death Egg Robot is already responding to the power of the Phantom Ruby," Eggman cackled. "It's a sign that my latest creation wants Sonic dead just as much as I do."

The human stepped into his waiting Egg Mobile ascending up to the robot. A hatch in the middle of the robots head opened up allowing the Eggmobile to enter the robot's interior. Eggman reached up to close the cockpit overhead setting the Phantom Ruby into a small indent along the side of the cockpit. Eggman settled into his seat in the cockpit with a sinister smile on his face

"This time it will be the end for you Sonic."

* * *

The sounds of explosions rained down on the battlefield sending up small clouds of debris. Kaito raced at the back of the group warding of any replicas daring to attack them. A loud explosion was going off in the distance nearly deafened him. The young jackal had escorted the small party of Gadget, Sahara, and Mikhail back to the ship the few Resistance members guarding the entrance to the ship gasped in shock upon seeing Gadget's burns.

"Will Gadget be okay Sahara?"

Kaito wanted to know the answer to Mikhail's question. Sahara looked over at the half-consciousness Gadget running a hand down the side of his back avoiding the scars a tense frown on her face. The medic winced seeing the blood and pus leaking from the burn scars.

"They don't look too bad, but there is a possibility they will scar," Sahara spoke tensely. "Gadget you're the bravest wolf I've ever met."

Gadget smiled weakly in response. Mikhail helped Gadget walk towards the ramp with Gadget stopping to exchange one last look with Kaito. The Jackal returned the small smile looking down at his adoptive brother. Mikhail smiled back at Gadget feeling nothing, but pride towards his younger sibling for his brave, courageous actions.

"I'll keep fighting for everyone, even if I lose my older brother," Kaito whispered forcing a smile on his face. "You're a hero now Gadget."

Kaito leaned forward as Gadget returned the fist bump. Kaito quickly pivoted on his heel staring back out at the battlefield before breaking into a run heading back to aid his allies in the final battle against Eggman's forces. Gadget sat up watching his adoptive brother risking his life once more to aid their allies in the final clash with Eggman's army. One thought crossed the wolf's mind a pit of dread forming a tight knot in his stomach.

"Kaito, please be careful, my brother," Gadget said. "Don't do anything too reckless."

* * *

Kaito tentatively made his way through the chaotic melee spying Chaser lashing out with his Void Wispon being careful not to hit any of his allies. Following the coyote's lead, Kaito swung out with his flamberge dispatching a Chaos replica. Sadly, one of those targets was a roboticzied Mobian seeing sparks jutting out from along its arm with a gush of oil splattering against Kaito's face.

Kaito grimaced raising a hand to wipe away the thick gunk stuck to his face. The noise of another loud explosion caused Kaito to glance up noticing one of the white and blue Resistance ships tumbling down from the skies leaking out black clouds of smoke crashing down to the ground in a fiery explosion.

"No, How many more lives are we going to lose?"

In response to his question, several kunai soared in a full arc over the younger jackal's head. Kaito saw the knives thrown in his direction forcing the jackal to duck at the last second. The next sensation was a body slamming into him sending both him and his assailant stumbling to the ground a blade pressed to his throat.

Quartz's eyes widened in disbelief recognizing Kaito. Quartz's jaw gaped in shock releasing his hold on Kaito, the two jackals turned to face each other tightly grasping their weapons both fo them waiting expectantly for the other to make the first move. Quartz took a step to the right with Kaito doing the same tracking his every movement.

"Wait a minute Kaito?" Quartz asked in disbelief. "How did you survive that thing's attack in Metropolis?"

"I had a narrow escape when the building almost came crashing down on top of me," Kaito replied tensely. "G.U.N found me and delivered me back into the Resistance's hands before Eggman's forces had the chance to capture me. I see working for Eggman's given you a potentially helpful benefit, and by benefit I mean the Phantom Ruby shards, you, Saber and Nephthys have around your necks."

Rouge dove out of the sky attacking Nephthys while Omega fired off a round of missiles at Saber forcing the older jackal to dodge. Engaging in a battle against the Robot as Nephthys slashed out at Rouge's wings the bat smirked ascending into the air kicking out at Nephthys forcing the female jackal to step back.

"You still don't have the fighting capabilities of a mercenary!"

Nephthys snarled angered by Rouge's insult, Nephthys quickly lunged again at the spy. Rouge chuckled amused by Nephthys' attempts to strike her hovering just out of reach of her blade.

Kaito recalled that Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys were working for Eggman. Kaito saw the Phantom Ruby shards around the on the cords around their necks. Quartz did not move to hide the shard from Kaito's gaze seeing the look of accusation in the younger jackal's eyes a scowl forming on his face.

"So you're choosing to work for Eggman now?"

"We didn't have a choice!" Quartz growled in frustration his tail swishing back and forth. "I'm sorry for doing this Kaito. It was either we would join him or take a trip to the robotcizier. It's nothing personal."

Kaito swallowed hard pushing down the feelings of betrayal aware of the illusionary knives thrown in his direction. The two groups engaged in their battle with the Phantom Jackals while all around them the tides of war raged all around them in a fight, one to decide the fate of Mobius.

* * *

The bright flash of Chaos Control faded away allowing Shadow to land on the ground in front of the ship gripping Infinite tightly. Infinite lifted his head to meet the gaze of two terrified Resistance soldiers immediately grabbing their Wispons pointing it at Infinite with trembling hands a small amused smile formed at the corner of Infinite's mouth.

"Stand down, Infinite is a hostage, and he can't do you any harm," Shadow said. "The power of the Phantom Ruby turned on him, and we forced him to surrender. He needs medical treatment since he will be locked away in a secure G.U.N facility when the war ends."

The Resistance members cheered at the news. Two Resistance soldiers ran up the ramp leaving no doubt to Shadow they were going to inform the medical staff that Infinite is a hostage. Shadow shook off the nagging concern that Infinite was far lighter than someone his height should be. The Ultimate Lifeform carried Infinite like a limp sack of meat up the ramp ignoring the jackal's weak protests followed by a cough.

Shadow came to a stop inside the ship setting Infinite on his feet. The jackal stumbled cursing his weakness with a small cough. A rough pair of fingers yanked hard at his dreadlocks. Infinite hissed in pain tilting his head glaring at Shadow wishing for the hedgehog to drop to the ground dead. A second yank pulled Infinite's head upright, forcing him to look at the red wolf lying slumped over the stretcher.

"Take a good look at what you did to your friend with your virtual sun."

Shadow forced Infinite to gaze at the red wolf lying slumped over the table with a maned wolf tending to Gadget's back pressing a cold compress against the burns. The wolf lay on his side wincing from the pain. Mikhail held his younger brother's hand. Sahara turned her head eyes narrowing at the site of Infinite standing there glaring back at everyone defiantly. Mikhail was quick to react reaching out for his Wispon to his feet placing himself between Infinite and Gadget pointing the Wispon at Infinite.

"Don't even think about taking another step," Mikhail snarled pinning his ears back. "Gadget almost died because of you."

Infinite opened his mouth to retort instead a violent cough erupted from his mouth. He stumbled backward only for Shadow to catch him. The jackal let out a hiss of pain. Shadow of his grip sinking to his knees clearly in pain from his injuries oozing blood. Gadget stared at Zerinn narrowing his eyes, contorting his face into an expression of rage. Gadget felt his fingers twitch resisting the urge to strangle the jackal in front of him for his crimes.

"Shadow, with all due respect you can't expect me to heal him," Sahara snarled. "Infinite killed several of my friends at the medical university I was attending came under attack. You truly don't expect us to show mercy towards Eggman's masked monster!"

Gadget agreed with Sahara's sentiment. A part of him wanted the jackal to die, upon hearing the cough emitted from his former friend. The jackal was speaking in low tones with Shadow. Gadget noticed the outline of Infinite's ribs through his fur. Zerinn's condition piqued Gadget's curiosity wondering why Infinite wasn't using the Phantom Ruby's power to fight back.

The wolf chalked it up to the fact it would make Infinite's illness worse. A glance at Infinite's chest made him gape in surprise. The magenta gem had been split down the middle leaving a gash, the sticky red blood welling up in the injury.

"It shattered in my last fight with the blue buffoon," Infinite explained. "It's broken, and therefore useless."

"Saving Infinite's life isn't an act of mercy Sahara," Shadow muttered. "He's our prisoner now. If we can remove the Phantom Ruby from his chest, then Infinite won't be able to harm anyone ever again."

For a few minutes, Sahara hesitated before she let out an agitated sigh, pivoting quickly towards the second table speaking briefly with an agitated hand gesture with two Resistance members arguing briefly with them. The maned wolf patted a table with an expression on her face like she'd swallowed something sour.

"Fine, bring him here," Sahara said. "I'm not happy about this Shadow. If you run into the Commander out there, tell him we have Infinite secured. I cannot entirely agree with his decision, but I'll do it."

Shadow said nothing slinging Infinite onto his shoulder carrying him over to the table setting him down. The Ultimate Lifeform nodded before he broke into a run heading towards the sound of the battle an unleashing several Chaos Spears at several of his fake replicas kicking out wondering how much longer this battle was going to go on.

* * *

Sonic raced along the ground with Tails and Knuckles alongside him running across the battlefield heading toward the Imperial Tower. The group made their way past the barricade of the Imperial Tower running into a small hatch opening up in the side of the fortress running down the long dark corridor heading into the deepest parts of Eggman's fortress. Sonic gazed all around him noticing multiple smaller yellow tubes suspended by several large hooks.

"Tails are you tracking the Phantom Ruby's energy signal?"

Tails held up the Miles electric his eyes focused on the small energy signal hovering across the screens his eyes saw the gem-shaped image flashing on the screen pulsing ever so briefly at the top of the tower. It appeared to be descending into the lower levels of the Tower.

"I'm tracking the Phantom Ruby's signal, and it appears to be heading downwards to where the reactor is," Tails called back. "The scanners says there is a Phantom Ruby Reactor down there. If we take it out, then the Phantom Ruby will become weakened."

"All right then! Here we go!"

Sonic's put on a burst of speed curling up slamming through several Metal Sonic replicas with Knuckles punching several Zavok replicas out of the way as the three of them came to a small opening, staring down the dark corridor. The long pathway led to an almost daunting plunge. Sonic with no hesitation and down the steep slope the sounds of Knuckle's footsteps echoing off the platform.

"Look at all of those capsules," Knuckles spoke in a subdued tone. "Each one of them has a Phantom Ruby prototype in them."

Upon hearing the Guardian's words, Sonic tilted his head toward Knuckles voice. A tight knot of dread formed in Sonic's stomach. The hedgehog saw several yellow capsules hanging from the ceiling a magenta gem floating in the yellow liquid. Sonic and Tails felt nothing, but unease. A massive grey platform with spikes slammed down into the ground sending shock waves through the pathway.

Sonic risked a glance up seeing the platform about to come down upon Tails and Knuckles. Sonic reached out grabbing Tails and Knuckles putting on a burst of speed narrowly avoiding crushed by the weight of the large device.

Several robots flew in through the air hovering in a single line formation firing of several rows of lasers. Tails and Knuckles dodged the hot lasers the fox easily dispatching the two robots as Knuckles took out the rest of the robots. The trio came to an extended set of grind rails formed in a twisting path leading down to the reactor.

"Sonic, Tails and Knuckles are you guys there?" Amy's voice crackled over the intercom. "Eggman's forces shot one of our ships down according to one of our scouts, and we need to end this war quickly. Have you guys found Eggman yet?"

"No, we haven't yet Ames," Sonic tensely replied. "According to Tails, there's a giant reactor that has a ton of Phantom Rubies. We will destroy them before Eggface has time to use them."

"Sonic, please be careful," Amy said. "If Eggman has that many Phantom Rubies, then He'd-"

A loud burst of static erupted from the Miles Electric as Sonic grimaced. Amy's voice became drowned out by an eerie magenta glow coming from the bottom of the room. The three of them landed in a large circular room with several large canisters each of them housing a Phantom Ruby Prototypes floating in the tubes pulsing that eerie magenta light.

"Well, we found Eggman's Phantom Ruby collection," Knuckles grinned. "All we've got to do now is to destroy every single one of them."

A sizeable hexagonal column moved several protrusions appear from the base of the column, revealing several white-hot lasers spinning about the area. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles jumped over the lasers, narrowly getting burned in the process. The sirens stationed around the room blared alerting the few robots remaining. A faint tremor shook the room briefly sending small dust particles falling from the ceiling, the sound of distant footsteps echoed in the distance, indicating something heading in their direction.

"Eggman's got some pretty tight defenses here," Tails said glancing around the large column. "If I can hack into the computer's mainframe I'll be able to shut down Eggman's defenses and. It's odd though, Eggman usually shows up right when we're about to stop his plan."

"Eh, he's off probably getting some giant mech ready to crush us all," Sonic replied confidently. "Besides Knux and I can take care of the Phantom Ruby tubes. Tails you handle the defenses."

"Heh, I'll bet I can destroy more Phantom Rubies than you can." Knuckles said grinning at Sonic. "Besides, we'll cripple Eggman's empire once we take out these Phantom Rubies here and now."

"Heh, you're on!"

Sonic grinned running over to one of the tubes vaulting over the lasers homing attack the nearest canister. Knuckles smiled punching his fists together in excitement glided over to the next container, beginning to punch away at it smirking at the sight of the cracks running along the glass.

Another powerful tremor shook the room, this time they could hear the sound of distant pounding banging at the walls. A part of the wall fell away revealing a glimpse of white peering in through the hole observing the occupants like a cat watching a mouse, waiting for the right time to strike.

"What is that?"

With a sickening crunch, the whole wall fell away revealing a giant white robot resembling the Egg Nega Wisp entering the reactor the long white tendrils snaked into the room the massive mech lashed out with its tentacles swatting Tails away from the computer screen. The fox narrowly felt the cold metal tendril grab him with several more reaching out for Sonic and Knuckles.

"So, Eggface busts out the giant mech at last," Sonic said. "And it looks like the Egg Nega Wisp with a new coat of paint. You're losing your touch Eggman."

At the mention Eggface, the sound of diabolical laughter erupted from within the cockpit. Eggman ignored Sonic's sarcasm laughing banging his hands on the console in excitement. The broad smile never left his face as he observed his enemies dodging the tentacles. His plan worked brilliantly.

"Gotcha! I knew if I brought the Phantom Ruby, down here, all three of you would follow its signal," Eggman said gleefully. "I've been saving this robot for a rare occasion you know. I built this robot three months ago, and I've incorporated the Phantom Ruby into this genius creation."

Eggman let his words sink in seeing the horrified expression appearing on Tails' face. Sonic and Knuckles stared up in horror at the meaning of Eggman's words pausing waiting for his next move. The situation had become hopeless in the blink of an eye.

"Then, that means the Phantom Ruby isn't vulnerable anymore," Tails breathed out in fear. "It's become invulnerable."

"Brillant deduction Tails!" Eggman crowed. "With the power of the Phantom Ruby I have surpassed both Shadow and Infinite to become the Ultimate Lifeform. I will admit that this war has been a good song and dance, but alas all good things come to an end."

Eggman's only response was to grin savoring the expressions of fear on Tails' face and the defiant expressions on both Sonic and Knuckles' faces. It would be foolish for any of them to fight back against the power of his greatest creation. The flash reminded him of the Phantom Ruby firmly lodged in its socket. Eggman smirked pressing down on a button, activating one of the tendrils to lash out at, his enemies missing them by several inches hearing the screech of the metal as the appendage collided with the reactor causing the whole area to shudder violently.

"You must catch us first!"

Sonic's voice drifted back on the wind. Eggman saw the flash of blue racing out of the reactor. The grin on Eggman's face was genuinely sinister. Eggman grinned typing in several keys on the small pad next to him. In response, the mech put on a burst of speed its tentacles striking the ground.

Sonic felt his heart racing hearing the breaths of his friends seeing the grey skies through the small hole leading to the outside. The three of them raced in silence hearing something big racing through the narrow corridor. Knuckles glanced back spying the sinister grin on Eggman's face urging his new robot to pursue Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.

"Sonic! That thing's right behind us!"

The hedgehog grunted in response to Tails' panicked shout the grey skies grew even closer the screech of metal being crushed underfoot the robots' tentacles urged Sonic and his allies to run even faster. It was a relief feeling the blast of cold air slamming into them skidding to a stop overlooking the massive battlefield their forces continuing the desperate struggle against Eggman's army.

Sonic frowned noticing that despite their best efforts the members of the Resistance were on the verge of exhaustion. He made out Silver in the distance engaging Metal Sonic, avoiding his grasp before the two of them attacked each other again, as Metal Sonic narrowly avoided the small shower of rocks thrown in his direction. Espio, Charmy and Vector worked together, to dispatch several fake Shadows.

"Our forces can't keep this up for much longer," Knuckles said solemnly. "We need to end this war now before we lose any more lives."

A violent screech of metal echoed in the distance as the Death Egg Robot exploded from the side of the tower tearing through the structure ascending rapidly into the bleak grey skies. The robot charged the Resistance's fleet knocking the two of ships out of the air black smoke leaking from holes along their sides. Sonic gritted his teeth at the sight feeling Tails bury his head into Sonic's shoulder.

The Death Egg robot observed the destruction it caused before diving towards the ledge above them resting its tendrils on the plateau. The rotund figure of Eggman stood up in the cockpit the broad smile on his face savoring the moment of his near triumph.

"The rest of the Resistance, well what's left of them will be rounded up eventually," Eggman called out from within the cockpit "Now then your deaths are going to be the ultimate triumph of the Eggman Empire. I want to hear your screams of both fear and pain."

Sonic shook his head from side to side causally dismissing Eggman's boast.

"We'll never give in to our fear Eggman," Sonic cried out. "We will turn your genius creation into a pile of scrap metal. Then we'll come out victorious by putting an end to this war once and for all. Let's go guys."

Eggman scoffed at the foolish words coming from Sonic's mouth choosing to wave a dismissively. Sonic Tails and Knuckles sprinted towards the white mech towering over them. Eggman chuckled gleefully upon seeing his enemies racing towards him.

"If you insist on playing the hero as you always do Sonic," Eggman replied gleefully. "I'm a little sad that this will be our last song and dance, but if you insist on fighting back, then you'll suffer a brutal death."

Sonic chose not to respond to Eggman's taunt. The hedgehog looked over at his allies who silently nodded as the three of them broke into a fast-paced spring heading towards Eggman's secret weapon, determined to put an end to the war once and for all.

* * *

Author's _note._

 _This chapter turned out to be longer then I expected. I wanted to set up several events for the final battle. while I did enjoy the Death Egg robot boss fight, it was lazy of Sega to reuse the same boss battle. There are plans for the final battle to go differently then it did in the game._

 _The Resistance isn't going to be just sitting on the sidelines. They will also have an active role to play in the upcoming battle as well._

 _I've mentioned this in the last chapter of the Wolf and the Jackal, but I'll say it here in case people didn't see it. Due to me being asked to help out with a couple of fundraisers this weekend I'm sorry to say that it's not going to leave me a lot of time to sit down and write up the next chapter. I'm sorry for this delay too._

 _As per usual constructive criticism/thoughts and reviews are welcomed and appreciated as always. I genuinely hope that all of you have a good weekend and stay safe._


	31. Illusionary battlefield

_Author's note Hello there guys and girls, I'm back once more with a new chapter for all of you to enjoy._

 _As always a big thank you, to TGN, SD321, One Nutty Author, bajy, Yami Chaos 27, SharpDragonKlaw, Pyrien, Turquoise Triangle, Alexandria Prime, PetsnanaG, Black Twilight Wolf and Keyblade Writer of the Dawn for leaving a review. Thank you all so much for the support._

 _Also as a thank, you_ go _out to bajy, and One Nutty Author for leaving a favorite and a follow on this_ story. _Also, a shout out goes to Abbey Gale 99 and Brice Beige for following this story. Thank you both for the support._

 _Without any more further delays let's begin the show with the penultimate chapter of the story as the_ war _saga is about to come to_ its _end. Things may settle down in the post-war arc, but we'll going to be far from down._

 _Disclaimer I do not own Sonic the_ Hedgehog _. The only things I can lay claim to are my OCs and the plot of this story_.

* * *

With a loud metallic screech, the Death Egg Robot took to the skies opening its mouth expelling several magenta balls aimed at Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles running out of the way of the magenta balls striking the terrain. Sonic grinned avoiding the barrage of attacks. Sonic pivoted on his heel turning around facing Eggman. Sonic flashed a cocky smile making sure to cheekily wagging his finger in Eggman's direction who glowered at his enemy's taunting.

"You won't be smiling for long Sonic!"

Eggman gripped the controls piloting the massive robot, directing one of the long robotic appendages driving it against the side of the mountain. The force of the impact sent a shower of smaller rocks cascading from higher up the mountain from the spot where the tentacle struck. Sonic let out a yelp stumbling across the ground. The sole of his sneaker skidding against the rocky surface. Tails noticed his friend's peril diving to grasp his hand pulling him out of harm's way the force of the tendril slammed into the wall with an ear-shattering crack.

"Hah! You missed with that strike Eggman!" Sonic cried out gleefully. "Is that the best you've got?"

Eggman clenched his fingers. The material of the glove stretched in protest at the roughly forced motion, his gaze drawn to the Phantom Ruby. An idea quickly took root in the mad scientist's mind. The Phantom Ruby's power was now Eggman's advantage against his enemies.

With a sudden movement, Eggman reached for the Phantom Ruby placing his whole hand on Ruby's surface. In response, the Phantom Ruby pulsed faster the magenta energy exploded in a wave erupting from Eggman's cockpit slamming into Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. The force of the impact struck the trio of heroes from the sky banging against the hard surface.

Sonic winced feeling the skin being ripped from his arms leaving sticky trails of blood welling up in the gashes along his arms. Knuckles let out a pained gasp as, the sticky sensation of blood clinging to his crimson fur standing up wincing. The Death Egg Robot paused for several brief moments the large tentacles waved about looking to catch either Sonic, Tails or Knuckles. Knuckles grabbed Sonic pulling him out of the way of the appearance crashing into the ground sending up chunks of rocks, and soil up into the air.

"What have you done Eggman?"

Eggman darkly chuckled in response to Sonic's question. In response, Eggman stroked the edge of his mustache grinning sinisterly. He saw the questioning look in Sonic's eyes.

"I'm not going to spoil the surprise, Sonic," Eggman sneered. "The anticipation of the end is worse than the end itself."

Sonic ignored his comment running alongside with Tails on his left and Knuckles on his right side. Together the three of them charged at the Death Egg Robot. Knuckles ducked at the last second feeling the heat coming from the laser shooting overheard narrowly grazing the tip of one of his dreadlocks; the pain caused him to stagger before he gripped the end of one tentacle cutting through the metal surface.

"This is for everyone who's died in this war Eggman!" Knuckles shouted. "The Resistance will never submit to the likes of you!"

With several furious punches, the Death Egg Robot's tentacle was severed sparks jutting up from the end of the appendage. Knuckles threw it down onto the ground stomping on it hard grinding into the soil hearing it shatter from the force of his stomp. Tails flew into the air severing the tip of the appendage narrowly avoiding being burnt by the heat of the laser shooting through the sky.

"Tails!"

Sonic growled low in his throat. The hedgehog broke into a sprint leaping into the air homing attacking the cockpit lashing out with a well-placed kick hearing the glass shatter underneath his feet before he jumped away from the robotic arm narrowly grabbing onto his quills. The hedgehog heard Tails' shout of gratitude landing on the ground. Sonic couldn't shake the sudden feeling of dread creeping down his back. Judging by the sinister grin on Eggman's face when the power of the Phantom Ruby activated Sonic knew that the result wasn't going to be good.

* * *

A loud war cry echoed all over the battlefield. The Resistance continued its battle against Eggman's army. The blue and white ships continued to battle against Eggman's fleet bringing down several more of Eggman's fleet sending them crashing to the ground. The sight of the downed ships was quickly followed up by a loud cheer coming from the members of the Resistance upon seeing their enemy's fleet decreasing in its number.

"Yeah! That's the way!" Charmy yelled in excitement. "Knock'em out of the sky! Show that smelly Eggman what we can do!"

The bee dived destroying a Zavok replica grinning, watching it dissolve into a pile of red cubes. Espio threw out several kunai destroying a few more of the Phantom Ruby's clones. Chaser grunted avoiding a blow from one of the roboticized Mobians.

"It's official, Eggman's a monster," Chaser winced feeling a heavy blow striking him across the side of his face. "Is there even going to be a way to return these people to normal?"

A tense silence filled the air after Chaser's question. Espio racked his brain searching for a way to answer the coyote's question not wanting to get his hopes up. All around the battled field, Chaos alongside several Resistance soldiers stomped towards the last few Phantom Ruby fakes lashing out with his arms destroying them effortlessly. Several of the Resistance soldiers fired off their Wispons engaging several Roboticized Mobians. Espio gazed at the fight maintaining a stoic expression, trying to see how his allies were faring in the melee.

Espio observed Vector was grappling with several more Shadow clones, sinking his teeth into the arm of a Shadow replica who tried to yank its limb free from the crocodile's sharp teeth. After a successful attempt, the fake Shadow freed its arm in a shower of red cubes before quickly being dispatched by several kicks by the real Shadow, before he skated away to attack a Robotocizied Mobian.

"I will destroy every single one of Eggman's inferior creations!"

Omega was in his element his unleashing a hail of flamethrowers, bullets, and machine guns at any unfortunate Phantom Ruby clone venturing to close to the robots' onslaught. Rouge fought alongside Omega kicking out with her high-heeled boots catching a Metal Sonic replica in its chest, allowing Omega to gun it down causing the clone to glitch out before it vanished in a shower of particles.

Silver continued to engage Metal Sonic in battle, but he wasn't alone. Amy fought alongside Silver landing several blows with her Piko Piko Hammer sending up small dents to form along Metal Sonic's hull, as the robot grabbed Amy's right wrist forcing her to drop her hammer. Silver quickly activated his powers freezing Metal Sonic in place. With a flick of his wrist, Silver sent Metal Sonic flying backward through the ranks of Eggman's army.

"I'm sure that Tails will find a-"

Espio's sentence was interrupted seeing a familiar magenta wave ripple over the battlefield washing over the clone army before it quickly vanished. The ninja's gaze zeroed in on the rapidly depleting clone army. The ninja blinked unsure of what he was seeing.

Instead of shrinking Eggman's army increased in number. More clones of Zavok, Metal Sonic, Chaos, Shadow and to his horror Infinite appeared instead multiplying rapidly. Rouge looked around in shock her jaw dropping in disbelief at the events unfolding in front of her. The spy's brain struggled to process the scene playing out in front of her. Rouge looked down realizing that her teammates shared her sentiment of disbelief.

"What the hell is going on?" Shadow asked as the force of his replica's kick sent him crashing to the ground. Quartz rushed in for the kill. Kaito knocked his former squadmate out of the way the two jackals got to their feet. The sound of the battle all around the two combatants drowned the sound of their blades deflecting of each other out by the noise of the expanded army rushing the Resistance.

"Error sensors are picking up on a massive energy surge coming from the Phantom Ruby," Omega said. "There is a hundred percent chance that the doctor is over-clocking the Phantom Ruby's power. If Eggman overclocks the Phantom Ruby's power, then there is no telling what the outcome will be."

Rouge grabbed the communicator holding it near her ear. A loud cry coming from Quartz's direction alerted the spy to his attack. Shadow intercepted the blow sending both him and the jackal tumbling to the ground narrowly avoiding a kunai thrown at Shadow's shoulder. The tip of the blade slicing through skin allowing crimson blood to leak from a shallow cut. Shadow glared at Quartz gripping the Chaos Emerald in his hand unleashing several Chaos Spears in Quartz's direction. Quartz yelped in pain from the sharp tip of the knife slicing through his fur and skin.

"Rouge, you need to inform Sonic, about what's going on," Espio said stoically. "They need to know what's happening down here."

"Trust me Espio, I'm on it," Rouge said tensely. "Eggman's already crossing the line. I hope Sonic, foxboy, and Knuckles are going to be okay, there's no way they're going to let Eggman win this war."

* * *

Meanwhile Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails gazed in horror as the last traces of the magenta wave faded away. Within a few seconds, the communicator crackled weakly with static as Knuckles held it up to his dreadlocks. The Guardian knew even the situation wasn't looking good spying the intense glare Sonic aimed in Eggman's direction.

"Rouge, what's going on down there?" Eggman activated the Phan-"

"It's bad down here commander," Rouge replied fighting to keep the panic out of her voice. "Eggman's army has rapidly increased in number. I can confirm that there's been an increase of clones of Zavok, Shadow, Chaos, Metal Sonic and Infinite appearing due to the Phantom Ruby's power. We can't keep this up for much longer."

Eggman chuckled pressing down on a switch with his finger a pair of small white orbs detached from the Death Egg robot spinning in the air several smaller white spheres slammed into the side of the mountain. Knuckles dodged two of them punching the third one as Tails weaved in and out from the lasers. Sonic homing attacked several of the orbs knocking them back seeing them explode in a shower of debris raining down onto the ground.

"What have you done?"

"It's simple my dear hedgehog," Eggman replied. "All I did was overclock the Phantom Ruby's power to increased the ever-expanding size of my army. Thanks to the Phantom Ruby's power I have become the ultimate life form surpassing both Infinite and Shadow in power. No one can stop me now!"

A frantic beeping coming from the Miles Electric alerted the young fox reaching down to remove the device from its hiding place. Tails' azure eyes scanned the surface of the machine. High above them, the grey sky turned dark red. Eggman cackled the wave of magenta energy swept over the Death Egg Robot with several magenta spiked cuffs jutting along the length of the tentacles.

The smaller pair of heads below the Death Egg robot's cockpit detached from the robot's main body hovering next to the Death Egg Robot. One of them forme bore a resemblance to Metal Sonic with jutting fangs, while the head on the right bore a twisted, deformed resemblance of Infinite, with half of the jackal's mask gone bearing a mocking impression of his scar.

Eggman leaned back in his chair savoring the moment when Sonic's confident smile faded away from his face looking up in stunned disbelief at the patches of magenta ruby forming in small spots all over the hull of the Death Egg Robot turning it white into a deep crimson like hue. The robot's tentacles moved in an erratic pattern swinging from side to side erratically.,

One appendage shot upwards on its own, a small opening as the blue laser shot out from the end of it slicing through the ground like a hot knife through butter causing the earth to shift underneath Sonic's feet violently.

The hedgehog curled up instinctively to protect himself from the force of the attack. Sonic felt himself colliding with something hard against his face. Sonic got to his feet ignoring the sudden pain emitting from his face. Sonic risked a glance behind him seeing the long trail of purple cubes forming a long pathway through the air high above the Imperial Tower. "Run!"

Heeding Sonic's cry the hedgehog heard his companions' footsteps behind him, spying the Death Egg Robot looming above them.

"Behold the new and improved Death Egg Robot, the Egg Phantom!"

"Pfft, the Egg Phantom?" Sonic chuckled shaking his head in amusement.

"Don't mock the name Sonic!" Eggman rebuked. "This time it will be both you and the rest of your friend's demise!"

Sonic said nothing, choosing to keep running along the purple pathway. The purple cubes were receding behind them with every step they took leaving the trio off friends all alone high up in the sky, as their only company was Eggman himself along with a pair of robotic heads bearing a resemblance to Metal Sonic and Infinite launching a relentless attack from their position in the skies.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the makeshift Infirmary bay from his bed Gadget forced himself to look at Infinite lying flat on his back on a bed on the other side of the room. Several hours passed ever since Shadow brought Infinite to the medical bay. Metal restraints firmly clamped around the jackal's wrists and ankles to stop him from lashing out at any of the observing Resistance members. The chrome mask remained on Infinite's face since every attempt to remove it resulted in Infinite shooting a fierce glare at Sahara. Infinite staring at them intently his tail thudding against the metal surface of the table. A reluctant Sahara attached a blood bag attached to Infinite's wrist. The injuries inflicted by the Phantom Ruby were covered in bandages since the bleeding finally stopped.

"It would've been preferable if you died," Sahara grumbled tossing away the last of the blood-soaked rags. "Then we'd have more medical supplies for Mobians who deserve to have their injuries treated."

Infinite stirred choosing to ignore the maned' wolf's criticisms. Infinite letting out a sharp cough, his chest heaved slightly from the effort. His fingers weakly traced along the edge of the shattered Phantom Ruby for a few moments, his gaze fixated on the shattered prototype, his heart felt broken. All the power he'd had it at his fingertips he'd felt so strong, untouchable, and with the loss of his power, it felt like his heart had broken in half.

"I gave it my heart, my soul," Infinite whispered so softly Gadget strained to hear his former friend's words. The jackal sat up wincing raising a hand to trace the broken Phantom Ruby prototype sullenly.

"Zerinn, you were strong before-"

Before Gadget could even finish his sentence, a frazzled young dog raced into the medical bat his azure eyes wide with terror slumping to his knees in exhaustion. Sahara raced over sinking to her knees slinging an arm around his shoulder guiding the dog over to a vacant bed next to Gadget. Mikhail stood up Wispon clasped in his hands a tense frown on his face.

"Nico, what's going on out there?"

"It's bad," The dog replied tensely. "Eggman used the power of the Phantom Ruby, to create even more clones of Zavok, Chaos, Metal Sonic, Shadow, and Infinite. We're being overwhelmed by Eggman's army. We need back up now before it's too late!"

Infinite's fur paled at the mention that Eggman would dare to have the audacity to even think about cloning him. A surge of pure rage built up his chest. The shattered Phantom Ruby prototype pulsed in time with Infinite's anger. It was almost like the Phantom Ruby was responding to Infinite's current emotional state.

"That fucking bastard will pay," Infinite seethed. "I will tear him limb from limb drawing on what little left of his body to subject him to his worst fears."

A sudden surge ripped through the medical bay Infinite focusing his attention on the restraints. A sizzling sound filled the infirmary with panicked screams filling the room with several of the injured soldiers believing they were about to be burned alive. Infinite wisely ignored their cries cutting free of his restraints yanking the blood bag away from his wrist. Infinite quickly stood up fighting the wave of vertigo before struggling to bolt for the exit of the ship. The two guards sprang away from the door of the airship with Infinite racing for his freedom.

Gadget sat upwards ignoring the stab of pain coming from his back activating his grappling hook latching onto a small outcropping the grappling hook pulled him forward sending the young wolf colliding with his former friend knocking the wind out of Gadget. Both tumbled head over heels skidding across the rough terrain. A flash of blue came from the corner of Gadget's eye. A blue appendage grabbed him pulling Gadget into the body of the Chaos Replica. A brief glimpse of blank green eyes staring back at him.

Gadget closed his eyes tightly as the cold liquid rushed over his head submerging him below the surface.

The wolf opened his eyes to met with a curtain of the blue liquid suspending him in the air. A small bubble of oxygen slipped from the young wolf's mouth golden eyes fixated on the bubble of vital oxygen aware of a distant voice screaming his name. Through the blurry surface a black and white, blurry image with a grey chrome mask on its face stared at him emotionlessly forming a red sword in the palm of its hand glitching out visibly.

A sudden force struck the Chaos replica depositing Gadget onto the wet ground leaving the wolf coughing for air. Someone whacked him sharply on the back forcing the water of his lungs. Blealriy he looked down to see Mikhail slapping his back again helping his younger brother to stand up. A flash of black and white tackled the false Infinite as Infinite formed a phantom sword slashing down at his replica holding it down keeping it pinned down with his body's weight hacking away at the Phantom Ruby clone until it exploded into a shower of red cubes racing up into the sky.

"It's strange to see a child racing towards danger instead of away from it," Infinite said sullenly. "Eggman's Phantom Ruby replicas are inferior to my skills."

Infinite staggered a bit with a short cough. Gadget hurried over to steady Infinite, only for the jackal stumbling out of reach shooting a half-hearted glare silently refusing the wolf's offer for help. Gadget fought to keep his temper in check.

"I didn't do it to save you," Infinite said slowly. "I did it to show that fat bastard, his folly in creating an inferior clone of me with the Phantom Ruby's power. As I thought despite my condition, I'm still able to hold my own in battle."

"Fine then," Mikhail retorted. "We didn't ask for your help. It won't change your situation Zerinn. You will still face justice for your deplorable crimes."

Infinite stiffened visibly at the mention of his old name. The jackal turned his head spying a flash of grey knives, Kaito briefly appearing in the melee avoiding one of Quartz's knives. The jackal broke into a run seeing the crowd of Mobian's back away from him as one of them bravely lifted their Wispon letting off a shot aimed at Infinite grazing his shoulder, the jackal heading in towards Kaito's location.

"We need to help out here," Gadget said seeing Mikhail opening his mouth to protest. "I promise I will take it easy once we deal with these guys. You're right that Infinite needs to face justice for what he's done."

The red wolf looked over in the direction where Infinite ran off to no doubt to aid his younger brother. The red wolf looked over at Mikhail the two brothers teamed up to take on a Shadow replica, continuing their final battle against the might of the Eggman Empire.

* * *

Sonic raced down the cube pathway with the Egg Phantom in pursuit. A sickening screech of metal told him that Tails severed one of the ruby red tentacles watching it come crashing down to the ground promoting Sonic to frown. The thudding of the robotic appendages slamming against the Mountainside attempting to crush his enemies.

"Oh Sonic!" Eggman's said sinisterly. "You might want to get a load of this!"

It happened so quickly; a whitish red tentacle lashed out ensnaring Sonic wrapping itself tightly against his fur and skin. Sonic let out a pained gasp, feeling nothing, but could metal wrapping itself tighter, and tighter on the hedgehog. The hedgehog winced, from the pain as suddenly the suffocating hold on him was released seeing the severed tentacle falling away with Tails pulling him to safety.

"Thanks, Tails I owe you one," Sonic said relief evident in his voice.

"It's no problem," Tails replied feeling more confident than he felt."Sonic how can we win against Eggman's robot?"

Eggman cackled taking sadistic glee in his enemy's suffering. A loud bang momentarily distracted him from his gloating.

Knuckles took to the air landing a punch against the deformed Infinite head, avoiding a second shot from the fake Metal Sonic's ship. The echidna entered a sharp dive through the air landing another blow on both of the twisted mechanical head bearing the resemblance of Metal Sonic.

"Sonic, are you all right?"

Sonic coughed wincing running a hand anxiously along his side checking for any signs he'd suffered a broken rib. Thankfully, much to his relief, a quick examination made it clear none of his bones were broken allowing a tense sigh of relief to escape from the hedgehog.

"Nah, I don't think anything's broken," Sonic reassured Tails were turning to face the Egg Phantom. "This war's not over yet Eggface!"

"Oh, you keep saying, that but you're wrong this time Sonic," Eggman rebuked grinned darkly. "If you will not surrender so easily, then I must beat you until you're near death. I'm sure all three of you will be worthy candidates for my robotocizier. Face it Sonic; I've won this war."

Sonic glowered looking at the Egg Phantom hovering near Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. Eggman enjoyed the silent looks of determination on Tails and Knuckles' faces. In his heart, Sonic knew neither of them would give up without a fight and neither would he.

"We've all experienced fear, pain, and torture during this war Eggman," Sonic began in a determined tone of voice. "We're not surrendering. No matter what the hell you do, to us, we will never give up the fight."

Eggman leaned back smirking smugly at his enemy's bold proclamation watching Sonic and his allies making another run at the Egg Phantom. The human's brain was already calculating his next move his fingers reaching out for the Egg Phantom's controls preparing to pilot the robot down towards his enemy's foolish assault. Eggman had to wonder why Sonic and his allies insisted on fighting back when the outcome had been decided to long ago the second Eggman defeated Sonic with the aid of his former partner Infinite.

 _It doesn't matter how hard you fight back Sonic. I'll crush you once and for all._ Eggman grinned sadistically at the thought that he would destroy every single shred of hope the Resistance ever had of reclaiming their world back from his iron grasp.

* * *

 _Author's note There were so many missed opportunities to have the Phantom Ruby to be utilized in the final battle since I thought that the Phantom Ruby would have turned on Eggman with the implications the Phantom Ruby is sentient. I found it was odd Eggman is silent during the second and third phases of the battle. Team Sonic will have a fierce fight against Eggman's new and improved weapon if they want a vital victory to reclaim the planet from Eggman's grasp._

 _Another thing that caught my attention when I played the game for the first time comes from the scene where Rouge mentions there are clones of the other villains Infinite is implied to be among the army of clones it presented me with an opportunity to show Infinite's reaction. After being betrayed by Eggman when Infinite learns that there are clones of him, it's a blow to his pride resulting in his angered state._

 _As per usual constructive criticisms/thoughts and reviews are welcomed and appreciated. I will talk to you guys within the next couple of weeks with the next chapter as the conclusion of the take back the planet arc will finally be happening._


	32. It's a brand new day

_Author's note Hey guys I'm back._

 _Over 250 reviews? I'm speechless. When I first started this fic all the way back in March, I never imagined it would get this popular let alone have this many reviews. I want to give a genuine thank you to all of the people who have viewed, left either a favorite or a follow on this fic._

 _As always I would like to give a thank you to TGN, SD321, Alexandria Prime, Yami Chaos 27, Keyblade Writer of the dawn, bajy, Turquoise Triangle and SharpDragonKlaw._

 _I'd also like to say thank you to fanozzy and ninjacheif 457 for both leaving a favorite, and a follow on this story. I'm pleased to see that you both enjoyed it and thanks for the support._

 _Disclaimer's the same as the previous chapters. I do not own anything._

 _Now, then without further ado ladies and gentlemen let's begin the final battle to take back Mobius.  
_

* * *

Sonic felt exhausted, the muscles in his legs screaming in protest at being forced to keep moving. Sonic's breath came out in short, sharp gasps. He didn't need to look over his shoulder knowing both Tails and Knuckles were tiring as well from the strain of the battle.

Above their heads, the Egg Phantom screeched lowering one of its robotic appendages firing of several lasers forcing Sonic and his allies to jump over them. Eggman observed his enemies from inside his cockpit glowering tapping his fingers impatiently along the edge of his cockpit glaring at the blaring alarms.

In its indent, the Phantom Ruby continued to pulse powering more of its power into the Egg Phantom unleashing wave after wave of attacks aimed at Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. Eggman heard his heart beating a nervous rhythm in his chest. Sticky sweat poured down his brow. The mad tyrant wished he had a handkerchief to wipe the intrusive sweat clinging to his forehead.

"No, I can't lose. Not now when I finally have control over all of Mobius," Eggman panted quickly. "I should have broken Sonic's spirit long ago by showing him my conquest all of Mobus. How is it possible Sonic's never given up, even with the power of the Phantom Ruby at my side? Why wasn't I able to break his spirit when he was my prisoner?"

Sonic frowned not even breaking his supersonic stride along the purple pathway dodging the attacks coming from the pair of Metal Sonic and Infinite heads unleashing their attacks in vain. Tails lashed out with his tails slashing through metal hearing another tin filled shriek coming from the Egg Phantom.

"It's simple Eggman, it's called courage, and I'm never alone as long as I have my friends by my side," Sonic rebuked. The speedster turned his head noticing Tails smiling back at him giving him a thumbs up. Knuckles nodded his head flashing him a small cocky smile. All the painful memories Sonic'd experience during his confinement washed away in an instant.

"You can't fail on me now!" Eggman said panicky reaching for the gemstones his fingers hovering near not daring to touch the surface of the gemstone. "You're an all-powerful reality warping gem. Surely you can handle a little over-clocking to defeat some many little rodents! I own you, Phantom Ruby!"

At that moment the Egg Phantom screeched to a sudden stop. The force of the abrupt halt nearly wrenched Eggman from his position in the cockpit. From his vantage point, he saw the tentacles of the Egg Phantom lowering to a standstill. The two heads moments ago who'd been attacking Sonic, retreated to their places on the robot deactivating, settling back into their cockpits.

Eggman stared dumbfounded at the two metallic heads coming to a rest in the cockpits then he looked down at the Phantom Ruby pulsing. A nasty grin appeared on Eggman's face seeing the Phantom Ruby pulsing again sending a wave of its energy through the Egg Phantom. Eggman grinned at the surge of power racing through the wires suspended over the head. The tyrant pressed a series of keys starting the next stage of his carefully thought out the final phase of his plan.

"I still have one more trick up my sleeve Sonic," Eggman grinned. "I will drag both you and your meddlesome little friends to your demise.!"

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles paused in bewilderment coming to a stop observing the motionless robot in resumed its attack. The only sound was the Egg Phantom's engines humming keeping the Egg Phantom suspended in the air.

"Is it over?" Knuckles asked bewildered. "Did we win?"

An icy chill crept down Sonic's spine. His instincts were screaming at him something was very wrong. A small noise at his side indicated Tails withdrew the Miles Electric typing in some keys a tense frown on his face.

"I'm still picking up the Phantom Ruby's signal," Tails said nervously. "It's conserving its power for another attack. We can't let our guard down no matter what happens next."

Without warning, one of the robotic tentacles snapped to life plunging through the air towards Knuckles. Knuckles barely had any time to react, the end of the appendage slammed into him sweeping his feet out from underneath him followed up by several hard blows inflicting bruises to the echinda. Sonic curled up slamming into a tendril severing it in half.

"I'm not backing down," Knuckles said to himself punching out at more tentacles racing down towards him. "There is no way I'm not going down without a fight."

The Egg Phantom reactivated along with the Metal Sonic, and Infinite heads were deactivating their optics glowing an ominous magenta glow. The Egg Phantom, having gotten rid of its controller let out another metallic screech raising all of its tendrils up into the air unleashing the wave of magenta energy. In an instant, the grey skies around them vanished quickly replaced by a starry black void. Sonic's heart sank at once recognizing where they were.

"Sonic, where are we?" Tails asked. "Wait is this Null Space?"

"This is Null Space, Tails," Sonic replied glare at the Egg phantom hearing Eggman cackle. "I never thought I would come back to this prison of nothingness. I came here to rescue Gadget when Infinite pulled him into Null Space. I'm sure we can find a way out of this so-called prison."

"I'd like to see you put that theory to the test," Eggman sneered resting his fingers against the controls eager to finish this battle. "Besides Null Space is a pocket dimension that is inescapable, although I'll put your first escape from this place down to sheer luck. This time you won't be leaving this place alive."

Sonic turned to Tails and Knuckles breaking into a run across the light blue pathway on a collision course with the Egg Phantom with Eggman piloting it to meet Sonic's charge head-on in the battle to determine the fate of both the war and Mobius. Sonic winced having been struck by robotic appendage slamming down next to him running along a multicolored pathway the Egg Phantom hovering ahead of them unleashing a stream of fire in the shape of an infinity symbol.

Eggman piloted the Egg Phantom in front of Sonic firing off a stream of fire in an infinity symbol. Sonic instinctively ran to the middle feeling a searing heat from the flames narrowly burning Tails and Knuckles. A loud shriek alerted Sonic the Egg Phantom conjured up illusions of the Death Egg sentinels firing off a round of bullets narrowly striking Tails dived for the optic lashing out with his tails striking a direct hit dispelling the illusion in a shower of magenta cubes.

"I'll handle the Death Egg Sentinels!" Tails' shout echoed all around Null Space. "I'll handle what has to be the frailest robots Eggman's ever constructed. It looks like a five-year-old built them."

Sonic chuckled hearing an indescribable shout coming from Eggman's direction. Knuckles and Sonic ran together ducking underneath the saw blades shot in their path. Knuckles winced at one of his dreadlocks sliced off along with a small gash a gush of blood erupted from his arm. Knuckles gritted his teeth pushing through the pain destroying several Egg pawns summoned up by the Phantom Ruby.

"I'll hold these guys off, Sonic!" Knuckles called out. "You go deal with Eggman once and for all. Don't let him win this war!"

Sonic grimly nodded summoning all of his strength putting it all into his legendary supersonic run. The Egg Phantom unleashed a hail of lasers, gathering even more Death Egg Sentinels destroying the pathway forcing Sonic to leap from broken segment to broken segment, severing a few more robotic tendrils heading in his direction. A quick glance over his shoulder revealed Knuckles and Tails keeping pace with Sonic avoiding burnt by waves of expelled from the Egg Phantom.

"I see that your friends are keeping up with you, Sonic," Eggman sneered. "It's still not going to be enough to defeat me!"

Sonic noticed thick black clouds of smoke leaking from the Egg Phantom, and the mech showed heavily damaged by the long, intense battle it endured. Sonic grinned shaking his head from side to side.

"That's where your wrong Eggman, you've lost and we've finally won this war!"

At Sonic's proclamation, Knuckles and Tails launched their attack on the Egg Phantom. Tails made a beeline for the tentacles hacking them away with his tails narrowly avoiding electrocution before he moved onto the next appendage.

Knuckles attacked the Metal Sonic and Infinite heads landing several blows scratching the surface of the robot's heads. Eggman was gritting his teeth seeing Sonic curling up before he launched into a spin dash his razor-sharp spines slicing through metal, wiring and a jolt revealed Sonic tore through the other side of the Egg Phantom.

"How is this possible?"

Eggman heard his alarms blaring. Eggman knew full well from his previous experiences he had precious seconds before the Egg Phantom exploded killing him in the process. Eggman saw cracks along the Phantom Ruby. At that moment due to the stress of the fight, the Phantom Ruby finally broke apart. In a panic, Eggman ejected himself from his doomed robot. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles saw their chance to escape grabbing onto Eggman's vehicle as a portal opened up.

"This isn't the last you'll hear from me Sonic! I will be back!"

"I'm looking forward to it," Sonic replied grinning. "Beating you will never get old."

Eggman snarled in response piloting his vehicle making a desperate dash for his escape with Sonic Tails and Knuckles pursing him. The small group jumped onto the Egg mobile leaving Null Space behind heading back to Mobius. The Egg Mobile headed towards Imperial Tower its owner shooting one last vicious glare back at Sonic before continuing on its journey.

A flash of grey skies greeted Sonic turning his head back towards seeing the portal closing behind them. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles released their grip on the Egg Mobile. Behind them. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles hit the rocky terrain hard skidding to a hard stop. The empty cockpit of the Egg Phantom shot overhead them the steel wreckage soared overhead with the head fully intact crashed to the ground sending up a shower of rocky debris cascading into the air before it came crashing back down onto the terrain.

"Augh, ouch man now that's what I call a rough landing," Sonic chuckled forcing himself to stand up, before helping Tails stand up supporting Knuckles by slinging an arm around his shoulders assisting Knuckles to stand up seeing a grateful nod. After the battle Knuckles finally examined himself. Several lacerations lined his arms and legs along with several bruises which would take time to heal.

"Look at what I was able to grab right before it shattered," Sonic said with a tight frown opening up the palm of his hand revealing a long shard of the Phantom Ruby. "I don't think we're going to hear any more about the Phantom Ruby."

Tails reached out for the Phantom Ruby fragment feeling no traces of power emanating from the piece in Sonic's hand. Tails picked up scrutinizing it with a slight frown.

"Yeah, we won, and we still have Eggman's army to deal with," Knuckles said running over to a small ledge overlooking the battlefield. The echidna's heart sank at the sight of their friends fighting against Eggman's illusionary army.

Much to their relief, the number of replicas hadn't increased, but it was clear their Resistance was becoming tired from the fighting. From his vantage point Knuckles, spied Silver, Rouge, Shadow, and Omega pressed together surrounded by several roboticized Mobians. Rouge and Shadow fought back with Silver wrapping several up in a light cyan glow before his powers failed, the telekinetic hedgehog slumped to the ground in exhaustion.

"I don't understand. The Phantom Ruby's shattered, so why aren't the clones disappearing?"

Tails frowned feeling a faint pulsing coming from the fragment in his hand. Tails furrowed his brow his brain working to figure out the solution until his eyes widening in realization.

"Even though the Phantom Ruby's broken, this fragment is somehow still radiating power to maintain Eggman's illusions," Tails said calmly. "I guess if we were to bring this fragment close enough to Eggman's illusionary army and destroy it in a close enough radius, then the replicas would vanish."

Sonic came up gently taking the fragment of the Phantom Ruby from Tails' fingers. As he did so a faint stab of pain traveled from Tails' hands to Sonic's hands. Sonic winced for a moment before flashing a cocky smile.

"That sounds like my kind of plan!"

Sonic took off in a flash of blue racing along a rocky pathway heading down to the battlefield with Tails and Knuckles right behind him determined to put an end to Eggman's illusionary army once and for all.

* * *

A loud war cry echoed all over the battlefield. Espio stood on a small boulder fending off several Infinite clones ducking withdrawing a kunai throwing it in a full arc striking Espio's attacker across the shoulder slicing through illusionary fur and skin, sending a gush of red cubes up into the skies. Charmy and Vector pushed their way through the raging melee coming to stand next to Espio. Several roboticized Mobians joined the fray attacking several Resistance members pushing them back.

Charmy dived towards the fight stinging several Infinite replicas resulting in a yelp shifting their attention from the injured Resistance soldiers towards the small bee. One of them lunged for Charmy. Vector placed himself between Charmy and the fake Zavoks punching one of them in its face. In response, the replica grappled with Vector trying to land a punch on him.

"Yeah well, there's no way we're going to let Eggman keep his hold over the planet!" Vector snarled. "We've come this far, and we're not surrendering without a fight."

The leader of Team Chaotix surveyed the scene hearing the loud yells of the Resistance soldiers in one last effort to bolster their morale. Shadow maintained a neutral expression on his face unleashing Chaos blast on several Shadow Replicas eliminating them. Rouge dived kicking a Metal Sonic Replica in the face, as Omega continued to unleash his arsenal on the army of replicas.

Amy supported Chaser bleeding from numerous cuts all over his body forcing their way into the fight taking out several more replicas. The pink hedgehog looked exhausted, her dress torn in several places; her tired jade eyes stared out at the oncoming mass of clones closing in on the Resistance forcing them to group closer together.

"We can't give up now," Amy panted raising her arms hefting her Piko Piko hammer slamming it into a Metal Sonic replica the weight of the hammer nearly dragged her down. "I'm sure Sonic and the others should've defeated Eggman by now, "

For a few moments, the Chaotix were able to catch their breaths staring out in hopelessness at the raging battle. Something padded along silently the rough ground, Espio stiffened years of ninja training were kicking into effect. In response to the unseen threat, the chameleon spun around on his heel kunai poised. A shadow fell over him revealing a fake Chaos and Infinite diving down towards him.

Without any warning, Infinite appeared from nowhere alongside, Gadget and Mikhail. Eggman's former second in command quickly created an illusionary short crimson sword. Infinite charged towards the fake illusion of himself striking it right in his chest causing it to explode into a small magenta version of red cubes racing away into the sky.

Everyone gasped in shock parting away from Infinite stumbling over lifting his mask ever slightly barely giving a glimpse of a white muzzle coughing into the open palm of his hands.

Gadget noticing his former friends' distress hurried forward resting a gloved hand on Infinite's back before the jackal shook away his touch glowering at him.

"Hey! I thought he was supposed to be locked up!" Vector shouted in pure rage taking several bold steps towards the sick jackal glaring at him. "Shadow told us Infinite is too sick even to fight back."

"Shut up," Infinite snarled with a low hiss to his voice. "I didn't come to save any of you. The doctor committed this grave insult to our former alliance by creating an illusionary army of me."

Mikhail spun around shooting off a round from his Hover Wispon the blasts of air forced the replicas back away from Gadget, panting slightly, but he was still determined to fight swinging his Lightning Wispon in a full arc destroying Chaos Replicas. The Real God of destruction unleashed a wave of water eliminating several Zavok Replicas demolishing them in a heartbeat.

High above the Resistance Metal Sonic shot across the grey skies. A few sparks jutted leaking from several gashes along his robotic hull. Metal sonic turned his attention towards Kaito surrounded by his former squadmates lashing out at Saber drawing blood with one of his daggers causing the older jackal to stumble back with a yelp.

"Kaito!"

Infinite put on a burst of speed forcing his way through the crowd destroying several more replicas standing in his way coming to a stop in front of Kiato. He heard the gasp of a surprise coming from Kaito found his attention drawn to the shattered Phantom Ruby Prototype in the middle of Infinite' chest. The other jackals backed away from Kaito.

"So, boss when we disagree with you," Quartz snarled, "Your first response is to throw a giant virtual sun at us. We're never going to forgive you."

Infinite remained silent noticing Nephthys snarling at him. Saber chose not to make eye contact with his former leader until he broke the tense silence with a single sentence keeping his voice calm.

"Let me guess, Blade, Roscoe, Iris, Fenrir, and Hela meant nothing to you?"

"They were part of our squad," Infinite replied calmly. "It's that they-

Kaito lightly touched his older half-brother on his shoulder interrupting his sentence.

"We never should've trusted Eggman from the start," Kaito said coldly making eye contact with Infinite. "You became so sure that Eggman would win this war. You must've known this would happen since Eggman has a habit of using those he manipulates and once you proved you proved that you outlived your usefulness, he betrays you in a heartbeat. In the end, you've become weak Infinite."

The masked jackal opened his mouth preparing to retort against Kaito until he spied Shadow the accursed hedgehog using Chaos Control to levitate in the air spotting Metal Sonic heading towards them.

"Metal Sonic is closing in fast!"

At Shadow's warning, Mikhail and Silver chased Metal Sonic through the multitude of replicas of the crowd. Gadget and Mikhail unleashed their Wispons the attacks barely scratching the hull on Metal Sonic. The robotic hedgehog landed on the ground grabbed both Silver and Mikhail by their wrists running his claws through their skin leaving lacerations along their fur forcing them to give up their pursuit.

Metal Sonic, with nothing to stop him made a beeline for Quartz and Saber grabbing them by their wrists. Nephthys growled low making a leap to attack Eggman's prize creation only to miss as she grabbed onto Saber's reaching fingers. With his cargo secured Metal Sonic revved up his engines, taking off into the air with the three jackals going limp in the robot's fingers, not wanting to attack their captor and risk having him drop them to their death.

Infinite broke into a run his face contorting to a savage snarl underneath his mask before a light touch caused him to turn. Kaito stood there with Chaser at his side his amethyst eyes blazing with fury pointing an Asteroid Wispon at him the tiny cube people hovering behind him swarming over an illusionary Shadow until it vanished in a shower of magenta particles.

Gadget reached forward putting a hand on Infinite's shoulder stopping him in his tracks.

"Infinite, you can't chase after Metal Sonic in your current state," Gadget said almost frantically. "If you pursue him, there's a chance Metal Sonic will let Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys fall to their deaths."

"I don't have time for your useless facts," Infinite snarled. "Don't even think about delaying me Gadget, I'll be sure to catch my former squadmates before they hit the ground."

Infinite took a running leap attempting to draw on the power of his shattered ruby levitating him up several meters into the air, preparing to pursue Metal Sonic only to have it fail. Gravity took hold of Infinite colliding with an illusionary Metal Sonic crashing into the ground.

Infinite let out a savage yell punching and kicking Metal Sonic until it exploded into a shower of red cubes. Infinite turned his attention towards several more clones lashing out destroying them effortlessly with precise speed and agility. Gadget waited until the jackal kept on fighting as he unleashed a wave of red energy on the army of replicas.

Form the crowd a replica of Chaos surged forward picking up the downed jackal submerging him in his body. Infinite thrashed around fighting desperately to break free. A small bubble of life-giving oxygen slipped out from his mouth. Infinite struggled becoming more panicked trying to find a way out his limbs were heavy water flowed in through underneath his mask into his mouth. A sudden gasp forced more bubbles from out of his throat seeing them floating away. Infinite stared after them watching with a sense of hopelessness, his heart slowing down, allowing more water to flood his lungs, throat, and stomach.

Infinite lay there in a puddle of a light blue liquid, feeling a rough hand wap him across the back forcing him to cough up water. A hard blow against his back forced Infinite to cough up more and more water his throat heaving before he rolled over onto his side vomiting up a mouthful of liquid emptying his lungs, throat, and stomach.

A cold metal slapped across his wrists. Infinite jerked his head back glaring at Shadow hauling him to his feet. Infinite immediately fought against his restraints.

"I wasn't the one who saved you," Shadow mumbled. "These are G.U.N issued handcuffs. You may have fought alongside us, we both caused damage to this world."

Infinite turned his gaze towards Gadget standing in place shooting him an uneasy expression on his face drawing to a mass of red cubes panting exchanging a silent look with Infinite observing him warily along with Kaito and Mikhail.

"Gadget Kaito, and Mikhail, it appears I'll have to accept my defeat," Infinite growled low looking towards where Metal Sonic fled. "I had the ultimate strength in my hands, and it's now gone." Shadow nodded to Kaito approaching Zerinn silently taking his hand.

"Just keep walking," Kaito snarled. "I still can't believe you tried to kill our family with a giant sun. Don't think either our squad mates or I can even forgive you for your crimes."

Infinite said nothing in response to his family members anger choosing to walk away utterly defeated staring straight ahead. A pair of Resistance soldiers flanked Infinite escorting him to one of the waiting ships.

A flash of blue announced Sonic's arrival along with Tails and Knuckles. Amy overcome with relief hurried over to Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles along with Gadget and Silver. Amy wasted no time in wrapping Sonic up in a gentle embrace.

"Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles you're okay!" Amy cried out in relief. "I and everyone else in the Resistance knew you'd be able to defeat Eggman."

Sonic winced swept up in Amy's strong embrace filled with relief, quickly returning it in a gentle embrace.

"Agh Ames, you don't mind letting go for a few secs," Sonic winced feeling a rush of oxygen rushing into his lungs. We gave Eggman a butt kicking he won't forget anytime soon. There's one more thing that needs to be taken care of."

Amy turned on her heel as Gadget hurried over Sonic holding the fragment of the Phantom Ruby up high turning to Gadget, Amy, Silver, Knuckles, and Tails stared at it in slight surprise.

"Is that the original Phantom Ruby?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, it is. The Ruby couldn't handle Eggman over-clocking it, so it shattered in the fight," Sonic explained turning to Amy surveying the small crowd watching Sonic drop the fragment to the ground, before he raised his foot driving into the piece shattering it into the half, silently observing it crumbling to fine magenta dust.

As a result due to the fragment's destruction, Eggman's illusionary army glitches out fading away to nothingness as Silver wrapped several Metal Sonic replicas vanished leaving the robotcizied Mobians gazing around the area in shock.

Knuckles seized the opportunity to climb onto a shattered boulder throwing his arms out ignoring his injuries. Everyone in the Resistance relieved at been able to cease their fighting seeing their leader beaming down at them proudly.

"Everyone listen up!" Knuckles called out in excitement. "Eggman has been defeated thanks to the efforts of Sonic and all of us! The Eggman Empire has fallen at last. Mobius is ours once again. We'll also find a way to reverse the roboticization process of the citizens restoring them back to normal!"

Arduous cheering greeted Knuckles' statement. Loud cheers rang throughout the desolate field. A brief glimpse of the real sun parting through the clouds shone broke through the bleak grey clouds shining its light onto the battlefield. Amy and Silver hugged each other. Gadget smiled warmly until a light tap on his shoulder caught his attention.

"You were great out there Gadget," Sonic said smiling extending his fist for a fist bump. "I can't say this for sure, but if your friends were here, they would be so proud of you. "

Gadget smiled feeling small salty tears creeping into his eyes as a few of them trickled down his face and muzzle. "Yeah, I'm sure they would be," Gadget answered Sonic's question returning the fist bump.

Sonic and Gadget turned to loud, joyous cheers coming from the Resistance. Several members fired Wispons into the air in triumph.

"Yeah, we did it, boys!" Vector boomed out. "Now they'll have to give us an extra large paycheck!"

Rouge exhaled a sigh of relief something that didn't go unnoticed by Shadow the small smirk gracing his face.

"Let me guess you weren't worried were you?"

Rouge scoffed slightly at Shadow's question flashing him a small cheeky grin. "No, it was a piece of cake. "I mean at least no one waited until the last minute to act all heroic and save the day."

Sonic whistled to catch everyone's attention as the cheers died down. The battered blue hedgehog surveyed the scene seeing so many faces looking back at him some with hope. Most of them had a triumphant expression on their faces at having won the war. Sonic knew even though they had won the final battle, they would still need to bury their dead in another funeral a sad duty everyone in the Resistance would be facing the somber task of burying the members of the Resistance who'd fallen in their most recent battle.

"Even though we've won this war everyone, Eggman still inflicted much damage to Mobius," Sonic said his tone serious. "It will take a long time, but if we work hard, we can return our world to its former glory since no one can live in an illusionary world forever. I think Sunset Heights would be a good place to start."

There were cheers of an agreement the Resistance returned to large white vessels resting on the ground. A loud roar coming from the fleet's engines echoed in the distance as the fleet rose into the blue skies heading back towards Sunset Heights with the Resistance celebrating its long-awaited victory over the Eggman Empire.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Sunset Heights an anxious crowd of citizens and G.U.N soldiers picked their way through the nearly destroyed city. Robot parts lay scattered in the streets. One citizen bravely hurried over to a discarded TV setting it upright on a small stool turning it on, hearing it flickering to life forming an image of an ocelot reporter beaming.

"This just in, we have received confirmation from Sonic the Hedgehog, that Eggman's empire has finally fallen," the Ocelot said happily. "To everyone all over Mobius, you're not mishearing things. Even as we speak, this news report is being broadcast all over Mobus. Our nightmare is finally over due to the heroic efforts of Sonic and the Resistance. Today is truly a day of celebration."

Cheers erupted all over the city citizens hugging each other in relief taking joy no longer feeling afraid of being shipped off to one of Eggman's facilities to be roboticized. What no one noticed in a small patch of soil several golden flowers pushing through the earth spreading their petals extending to catch the sun's rays on them.

* * *

However, none of the Resistance members noticed the Egg Mobile coming to land at the entrance to the Imperial Tower. Eggman climbed out of the vehicle his face contorted in an expression of rage glancing down at his once glorious Eggman Empire. Multiple flaming wreckages marked the places where ships of his fleet lay crashed against the ground.

Orbot and Cubot appeared along with Metal Sonic dragging Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys forward protesting. A tense silence fell over the room until Cubot was shoved forward about to break the silence. Everyone sensed Eggman's temper rising. Orbot wisely kept out of striking range as Eggman tended to strike him first whenever he was in a bad mood.

"So I'm guessing we lost the war then?"

"Oh, I have to wonder if the giant flaming wrecks which used to be my ships weren't a clue," Eggman ranted. "Infinite turned on us, and the Phantom Ruby is destroyed, most of my illusionary army has been erased from existence, and the Roboticized Mobians have been taken by the Resistance, of course, we lost!"

Orbot hovered forward nervously careful to stay out of striking range.

"So, boss what do you want us to do with these jackals?" Orbot inquired in a polite tone. " Boss, do you wish for them to be subjected to the roboticization process?"

Eggman paused for several tense moments taking sadistic glee in seeing the variety of expressions appearing on Quartz's Saber's and Nephthys's faces. Quartz swallowed nervously. Nephthys averted her eyes unable to bring herself to make eye contact with Eggman. Saber closed his eyes lowering his head in acceptance of his fate.

"No, I may still have some use for them yet," Eggman replied waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Metal Sonic take these three out of my sight for now. Besides they're still my valuable allies unlike their traitorous boss and his brother."

Metal Sonic dragged his captives away. Orbot took Metal Sonic's departure to come closer to Eggman who stood staring out at his former empire a grim smile plastered on his face reaching for something inside his pocket revealing a familiar magenta glow. Eggman grinned seeing a few fragments of the Phantom Ruby nestled in his pocket. It had been a stroke of good fortune Eggman had recovered a few shards of the Phantom Ruby moments before Sonic landed his last attack on the Egg Phantom.

"I'll be back with a brand new plan Sonic," Eggman muttered to himself staring at the fragments formerly belonging to his most powerful weapon. "There's a reason I told Metal Sonic to grab those three jackals in case there was an unlikely chance I would lose this war. However, I believe that it's time Metal Sonic may be due for an upgrade."

* * *

 _Author's note This chapter was one of the hardest I've ever had to write mostly due to the fact I wanted to give the Resistance their chance to shine instead of being relegated to having triumphed over Eggman's army in a cutscene. Writing out both battle scenes turned out to be much different than I originally planned, and I'm happy with the result. Also, it's a triumphant moment for not just the Resistance, after a long hard war, they can now focus their efforts_ on _restoring the planet to_ its _former glory._

 _One thing I found odd at the end of Sonic Forces is that Eggman vanishes without a trace. This isn't the case here as I do have plans for Eggman and Metal Sonic to play a role along with Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys in the post-war arc._

 _In case people are confused I have read the Sonic IDW comics and I'm fully aware of what happened to Eggman after the events of Sonic Forces. I'm not going to spoil what exactly befell Eggman in the IDW comics, but I would recommend them._

 _There are still a couple of twists remaining. Even though Gadget did save Infinite, he didn't do it out of forgiveness. Gadget holds a lot of resentment towards Infinite for killing his friends which the only reason he saved his former friend's life was to bring him to justice._

 _As per usual constructive criticism/ thoughts and reviews will be welcomed and appreciated. I will see you guys this weekend with the first chapter of the post-war arc._


	33. The war's aftermath

_Author's note. I would like to begin by giving a big thank you to stephanieeiche 10, TGN, SD321, Alexandria Prime, Yami Chaos 27, Sharp DragonKlaw, Keyblade Writer of the Dawn, bajy and Turquoise Triangle. I genuinely appreciate all of the support, you have shown for this story._

 _I also have to thank Pyrien for following this story thank you so much._

 _Without further ado let's begin the post-war arc, and even though things are for partially calm, all I can say about for these next few chapters, things won't be quiet for long._

 _Disclaimer It's the same as the previous chapters. I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic belongs to Sega/Sonic Team._

* * *

After a long flight from Mt. Yuji, it had been a relief to the tired Resistance when their fleet finally arrived at Sunset Heights. When Sunset Heights came into view, everyone went to the windows to observe the damage Eggman inflicted on the city. Much to their dismay three-quarters of Sunset Heights lay in ruins after Eggman's assault several weeks ago. However, they were surprised to see from their aerial view their bunker still mostly intact even after being forced to abandon it during Eggman's take over.

The Resistance's fleet touched down several meters outside the city's walls. Sonic looked out of a window on their ship observing a door opening upon another of their vessels. Resistance soldiers exited the vehicle. The soldiers were carrying the bodies of the casualties from the last battle with Eggman wrapped up in a white flag with the Resistance's symbol printed on it. The hedgehog bit down a sad sigh observing even more of their allies who'd bravely died in the war. Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, and Rouge watched the tragic scene in silence.

"They fought so bravely for us," Amy breathed out sadly. Sonic said nothing in response except draping an arm gently across Amy's shoulders. Sonic squeezed her shoulder in reassurance feeling Amy leaning into him. "We have to honor their memory somehow."

The blue hedgehog watched in silence seeing more of the bodies carried out of the other ship. Sonic didn't have to look back hearing several of the Resistance soldiers silently weeping, mourning for their lost comrades. In a corner, the robotcizied Mobians stood shoulder to shoulder observed by three Resistance soldiers along with Chaser watching their every move.

"I know, Amy. We've lost a lot of good people during this war," Sonic breathed out. "The best we can do for our fallen allies is to comfort their families in this time of need and help them in the grieving process."

"I received a message from the G.U.N Commander saying they've lost over seventy-five percent of their forces during the war," Rouge added, not even caring her mascara was slightly runny. Knuckles said nothing except a taking her hand giving it a light squeeze in comfort.

A commotion interrupted everyone's mourning. Everyone quickly turned around to notice Infinite fighting with both Shadow and Omega. Omega promptly lowered his arm pointing his arsenal of weaponry it at the jackal. Infinite stared back at the masked jackal who glared defiantly back at Omega defiantly.

"If you do not cease your struggles Infinite, I will eradicate you on the spot," Omega intoned pointing his arsenal aimed at Eggman's former second in command. "It was a fluke you were able to defeat me when my guard was down. The odds of you launching another surprise attack on me are low."

Infinite said nothing in response to Omega's threat. Kaito hurried over to him whispering something frantically into his ear. Whatever Kaito told Infinite it gave Vector an opportunity to place a pair of handcuffs on Infinite's wrists. Omega, Shadow, and Vector positioned themselves on either side of Infinite forcing him to walk forward.

Sonic noticed hearing cheers of happiness coming from a large crowd gathered outside Sunset Heights.

"Well guys, let's go greet the people of Mobius and give out our victory speech," Knuckles said. "Also Sunset Heights would be a good place to start with rebuilding Mobius. I'm not the greatest with giving out speeches to a public audience."

With, a low hiss of the doors opened allowing the rest of the Resistance exited the ship. Omega, Shadow, Kaito, and Vector led the small procession keeping a firm grip on Infinite forcing him to walk down the ramp ignoring the sharp cough from the jackal. Most of the crowd shrank back at the sight of Infinite in fear. A few small children worked up the courage to jeer at Infinite to be pulled back by their parents in fear as Infinite half-heartedly glared at them.

"Sonic! Over here!" Do you and the rest of the Resistance have time for an interview?"

Several reporters pushed their way through the crowd shoving microphones into the hedgehog's face. A small bubble of annoyance built up in Sonic's body at the intrusion, but he pushed it down.

"Yeah, we've got time for a quick interview," Sonic replied beaming alongside, Knuckles, Silver, and Tails standing on hastily made podium. Bright lights lit up the area as the second microphone pushed forward by a hedgehog reporter no doubt eager to snap up the next big scoop for his local newspaper.

"Since the Resistance has won the war, what is your next step Commander Knuckles?"

Knuckles smiled swallowing his nerves. Everyone's fixated on him. The Guardian wasn't going to lie; he was nervous. Knuckles inhaled then exhaled plastering a smile on his face.

"Well, since the long war's finally come to a close, I guess we can all go back home," Knuckles said his voice echoing over the area. "Everyone has worked well together in this time of crisis. We will mourn those who lost their lives in this war. From today I promise the Resistance will do everything we can to help bring Mobius back to its former glory."

"So, what about that strange white hedgehog?"

All eyes fell on Silver blushing in embarrassment. Silver swallowed nervously. Small beads of nervous sweat forming on his brow his heart hammering away nervously. Knuckles stared at him with an unreadable expression on his face. Sonic and Amy exchanged a worried look. Neither was sure how people would react if Silver said he was from the future.

"My name is Silver. " Silver hurriedly said. " I agree with the Commander that we still have much rebuilding to do to restore our home. I came from a distant part of Mobius when I heard rumors Eggman was preparing to take over Mobius so I alerted Knuckles and I guess I'm a co-commander of the Resistance."

"Here's one more question for you folks," A weasel reporter chimed in eagerly. "Sonic, do you think Eggman will be back with a new plan? Also with Infinite as a have his second in command as a prisoner of war what do you plan to do with Infinite?"

Sonic paused for several moments considering his answer was rubbing his chin in thought.

"I don't think Eggman will be back to bother anyone anytime soon after the defeat we gave him," Sonic said with a serious frown, "Infinite, on the other hand, we'll be handing him over to G.U.N so they'll ship him off to their most secure prison facility. We'll all a little tired, so I'd appreciate it if we all got a chance to rest."

The crowd cheered at Sonic's statement parting allowing the Resistance was walking down the ramp followed by their allies heading towards the bunker eager to get some rest. Soaking in the praise coming from the gathered crowd dispersing, at last, to let their heroes get some sleep.

* * *

Three days passed as the Resistance busied themselves with making minor repairs to the bunker. Knuckles smiled looking over at his allies spying Gadget and Mikhail in conversation with the Chaotix. The red wolf appeared to be blushing to rub the back of his head in a self-conscious gesture.

"You came through for us when it counted, Rookie," Vector complimented Gadget. "When you first joined up with us, I wasn't sure if you were able to be any help to us, but after jumping into that virtual sun, you've come a long way from the rookie who stumbled around getting himself knocked out by one of Eggman's robots."

Gadget winced recalling the incident where he'd let his confidence get the best of him during his first mission with the Resistance seeing Mikhail shoot him a concerned expression.

"We all make mistakes whenever we undertake something new," Espio said. "I too had my doubts when you first joined us. I thought the grief you were experiencing would cloud your sense of judgment, leading to rash decisions, but you came through in the end."

"You're amazing Gadget," Charmy praised the red wolf. "Even though you were a klutz in the early days. I'll admit it was scary when you jumped into Infinite's virtual sun."

Mikhail approached Gadget drawing him into a half-embrace fully aware not to touch the burn scars on his half brother's back. Gadget leaned into his half brother's warm embrace wanting to hug his Mikhail tightly and never let go.

"I'm so proud of you," Mikhail quietly said making sure Gadget heard his brother's words. "Thank Chaos you didn't die at the Imperial Tower. Believe me, if you had died, I would've hunted Infinite to the ends of Mobius and made him pay for killing you."

Knuckles looked around at everyone speaking to each other in low tones. Some of them were eager to return to their towns to help with rebuilding them. A clack of heels echoed off the floor as Rouge took her chance to approach Knuckles. Both of them stood side by side together observing Chaos standing there in silence a small pink light hovering next to him.

"I'm willing to bet you can't wait to get home," Rouge said looking over at Knuckles with a coy smile. "There's a certain giant emerald needing to have off to its full beauty. Perhaps I could come up to have a little look at it."

"Nice try Batgirl," Knuckles said with a low chuckle shaking his head from side to side. "Once I've resealed Chaos back in Master Emerald. I'll have to find a new hiding place for it on Angel Island where no one can find it again. You're never going to give up are you?"

"A lady never reveals her secrets to Knuckles," Rouge replied with a small smile. "It's good to know you're going to be as stubborn as ever."

Knuckles heard the hiss of the door allowing Sahara and Chaser to enter the briefing room along with several Resistance soldiers talking in low tones. Most of them bore bandages from the final battle. Sonic spoke with Gadget and Mikhail. Sahara took her chance to approach Knuckles about to give her report on everyone's status.

"Commander, it appears Gadget's scarring is likely to become permanent," Sahara reported with a small frown. "I've treated everyone in the Resistance since most of their wounds weren't serious. Well, some of the injuries happened because a few Mobians got carried away. Our prisoner, on the other hand, he's barely eaten or drank anything in the three days we've had him, and his cough appears to be worsening."

Knuckles processing the information from Sahara's report. The guardian turned around to see Chaser grinning rubbing at his head in a self-conciseness gesture. Vector bore a few scars along his back. Amy rested her wrist in a sling; Rouge winced stretching out her left-wing wrapped in a fresh wad of bandages.

"Ah, Sahara, you know it was just a few robots and illusionary fakes begging to be wiped out," Chaser said cheekily. "Besides we won, so the least we can do is to kick back and relax for a few days. One of the first things on our agenda is to find a suitable prison for Infinite."

At the mention of Infinite's name, everyone fell silent. Sonic and Tails ended their conversation the young genius looked up at everyone with a small frown gracing his face.

"It wasn't just Eggman who is responsible for the current state of the world. Infinite has played a crucial role too," Tails spoke trembling with anger. "I mean he helped Eggman torture Sonic for months, he killed many our forces during Operation Big Wave, Infinite has proved to be a danger, and in my opinion, he should never walk the streets as a free Mobian ever again."

A chorus of voices agreed with Tails' sentiment mostly coming from the Resistance Soldiers. Sonic looked over at Gadget and Mikhail. The pair of brothers stood together unsure of what to say. Most of the Resistance raised their voices drowning out any form of argument coming from a couple of soldiers. Gadget heard a low hiss opening seeing Kaito sticking his head out freezing in place his ears twitching hearing the angry voices.

"There's no need to give that monster a trial!" A young bear spoke up one of her arms wrapped in a sling. "He's guilty, and he should just admit it so we can lock him up for good!"

"Just give him a lethal injection and get it over with!"

"He doesn't deserve that luxury!" A light grey wolf argued back fiercely. "Set him, up before a G.U.N firing squad and let them take care of it."

A dangerous quiet fell over the bunker. The wolf paused feeling a strong hand clamping her shoulder. She was quickly spun around to face Shadow his lips contoured in an expression of intense rage, of his fists clenched raising it into the air crimson eyes blazing with anger. Rouge looked on in concern. Omega raised his arm until Rouge patted it lightly silently telling Omega to stand down.

"My best friend and father figure died at the hands of G.U.N. How dare you even suggest such a thing," Shadow snarled his anger at a breaking point. "I very almost nearly destroyed the world in a misguided plot for revenge, and nearly killed Sonic several times, and yet he chose to forgive me. Everyone did. I'm also to blame since I killed half of his squad, setting Infinite on his path."

The wolf's fur paled her hazel eyes begging Shadow to let her go until the Ultimate Lifeform continued to stare angrily at her feeling a light touch on his shoulder. Both Rouge and Sonic placed a gentle hand on his shoulders. Both Sonic and Rouge felt Shadow breathing in anger his grip tightening on the wolf's shoulder heating her cry out in pain.

"Shadow, I know it was an insensitive comment on her part," Rouge chimed shooting the cowering wolf a fierce glare. "You didn't tell me you killed half of the group of mercenaries you encountered in Mystic Jungle."

She heard Shadow sigh releasing his hold on the wolf, who scrambled away hastily fleeing back into the crowd along with a quick apology. Another tense silence fell over the crowd. Shadow paused for several tense moments before he began to speak again.

"I agree with Tails. I doubt now's the time to properly decide Infinite's fate," Sonic spoke up clapping his hands together everyone's attention bringing the squabbling to an end as several heads turned towards the blue blur. "We can lock him up in a secure facility once we've got everything settled."

A few discontented mutters echoed throughout the room. Sonic noticed Kaito hastily wiping away at his eyes before withdrawing his head from the entranceway no doubt telling his brother what he'd overheard.

"Oh, right, Kaito's related to Infinite," Sonic mumbled to himself. "I'm sure he's well aware his brother needs to face justice for his actions. "We'll let Kaito know what exactly is going to happen to his only family member."

Tails remained deep in thought his brows furrowed letting out a low hmm staring down at his hands folding them across his chest thinking hard about something. Sonic paused noticing his adoptive brother wasn't following the small group.

"Hey, Tails is everything all right?" Sonic paused sounding hesitant reaching forward to pat Tails' shoulder in a gesture of reassurance gently. "I know this war's been extremely hard on everyone and I wish I'd been able to defeat Eggman right from the start, then none of this would've happened."

Tails shook his head hastily wiping away the small tear creeping down his face. "No, it's not that, it's also It's a shame the Phantom Ruby got destroyed during this war. I wonder what kind of effect it would've had on the Chaos Emeralds. We gathered four of the Chaos Emeralds, and we know Eggman has the other three."

"That's not true. Infinite still has that shattered ruby prototype. I will admit that I do share Tails' curiosity," Shadow said. "Besides if we can get a reaction out of the Phantom Ruby, then maybe it'll give us a better idea of the threat level the ruby itself possesses."

Sonic paused considering Shadow's idea, barely given anytime to process the full extent of Tails' suggestion. Sonic exchanged a look with Tails seeing the fox nod.

"I think it's a bad idea we use one of the Chaos Emeralds against Infinite's shattered prototype," Sonic addressed Tails and Shadow. "Also, while Tails, Knuckles and I were heading into Eggman's base at Imperial Tower, we discovered a bunch of Phantom Ruby prototypes. We didn't get a chance to destroy them before Eggman showed up in his Egg Phantom Robot, preventing us from destroying them."

A small gasp went up from everyone in at the information. Knuckles hurriedly stepped forward waving his hand for silence allowing the rest of the Resistance to do so.

"I can assure you, I will send a team to head back to Imperial Tower to dispose of the rest of the ruby prototypes," Knuckles announced to the whole room. "For now though, I will lead a small group heading to Infinite's cell to make sure he's aware of what'll happen to him next."

Knuckles nodded silently waving Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow, Gadget and Mikhail forward. The small group left the meeting room making their way from the meeting room heading to the prison area where Infinite lay in his cell awaiting his fate.

* * *

In his cell, Infinite sat up hearing Sonic's Knuckles', Shadow's and Gadget's voices echoing off the walls. Infinite heard the small group coming to a stop in front of his cell. Kaito looked over at Infinite lying on his side. In the last three days ever since his capture a little over three days ago. Infinite's condition appeared to have worsened the single open eye glaring at them with venom. His shattered ruby pulsed faintly against his chest.

Kaito jerked his head up eyes alert gazing at Knuckles in worry, averting his eyes away from the echidna's gaze.

"Have you come to gloat?"

Everyone ignored Infinite's question. Shadow came forward holding out a Chaos Emerald pulsing ever so brightly in his hands. Infinite felt a stab of pain coming from his shattered ruby looking down and seeing it pulse sending a wave of pain throughout his body. Infinite ignored the pain noticing Shadow handing the Chaos Emerald to Tails. The genius quickly slipped it through the bars.

Without warning, Infinite immediately screamed in pain feeling a surge of energy ripple from his shattered ruby. The blast of energy forced the Chaos Emerald away from Infinite pushing it against the bars. For several moments the ruby's power dissipated leaving Infinite crumpled on the floor panting for breath. Tails hurriedly grabbed the emerald pulling back through the bars.

"What did you do?" Infinite wheezed shuddering from the pain. Kaito got up from the stool a fierce expression of anger on his face.

"Hey, guys what's going on?" Kaito asked nervously. "I heard quite a commotion out there. Now you guys come in here and perform that experiment on my brother. What the hell's going on?"

"It's simple Kaito," Tails explained. "Since the original ruby, is now shattered according to Sonic. We never got a chance had time to see how a single Chaos Emerald would react to the Phantom Ruby's power. Judging from what we witnessed, it must've been an instinctive reaction from Infinite's shattered prototype to reject the Chaos Emerald. It makes me think there is a possibility the Phantom Ruby may be sentient."

Tails' words left an unexplained feeling of dread in the air. Gadget and Sonic exchanged worried expressions with each other.

"Wait, so you think the ruby on his chest is sentient? Kaito whispered in fear. "I know he needs to face justice for his crimes. What if he endangers everyone else at whichever prison Infinite will end up at?"

"Kaito, ty not to worry too much," Knuckles replied hoping to soothe the young jackal. "G.U.N has some of the best scientists within their ranks according to Rouge, so I'm sure they'll find a way to remove his shattered Phantom Ruby."

Everyone shifted uncomfortably. Kaito paused rubbing a pair of his fingers against the faint scar on his chest. Knuckles marveled at how well the injury healed as Kaito stiffened turning a fierce glare aimed in Zerinn's direction his lip curling up in a snarl at hearing the word weak.

Infinite got up running a pair of fingers over his shattered prototype staring intently at his captors preparing himself to make his escape. He looked at everyone's faces, in turn, judging them kicking a small plate of half-eaten food in their direction.

"You insects truly think you can keep me a prisoner?" Infinite queried. "You're a bunch of naive fools by showing mercy to me. I'll still reclaim this world as my own."

Without warning, Infinite spun on his heel drawing on the power of his shattered ruby feeling a surge of power. Sonic shouted about getting out of the way. Infinite spun around on his heel unleashing a blast of energy at the wall hearing the bricks crumble to the ground followed by a cloud of smoke. Infinite seized his chance to escape breaking into a run taking into the air, the crisp fall breeze flowing through his dreadlocks. Infinite shot one last satisfied glance over his shoulder at his captors before taking off into the distance.

"Someone's got to go after him!" Knuckles was the first one to recover from his shock. "If Infinite attacks another town he needs to be subdued immediately. Rouge how long would it take for any G.U.N units to reach Park Avenue?"

Rouge immediately snapped to attention."It looks like he's heading to Park Avenue. A G.U.N unit was scheduled to pick him up today, but I must let the Commander know he's escaped and it may not be possible for a G.U.N unit to reach Park Avenue since most of our forces are busy helping repair Westopolis."

Gadget paused taking in the panic that he would never have imagined Infinite in his condition still had the strength to launch an escape attempt. The wolf clenched his fists watching the small dot racing away into the distance. Before anyone could stop him, Gadget took off a full sprint, ignoring Mikhail's and Kaito's shouts for him to come back. Gadget kept running his mouth set into a tight frown. The wolf leaped into the air activating his grappling hook, snagging on a roof tile jumping from roof to roof still in pursuit of Infinite.

"Gadget, wait come back!" Mikhail called out "We'll go together!"

"Don't worry I'll bring them both back here," Sonic said. "Knuckles I'm sure that you and everyone else can keep the citizens calm. The last thing we need is a massive panic breaking out in Sunset Heights. Tails come with me, in case something else goes wrong."

Without waiting for an answer, Sonic broke into his supersonic run along with Tails following him heading down the destroyed streets of Sunset Heights unaware high above them in the sky a Flapper robot hovered there a small camera embedded into its eye observing the events playing out far down below it.

* * *

Eggman paced down the long corridors of the Imperial Tower with Orbot and Cubot walking alongside them. Eggman passed a small cell containing Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys sitting huddled together looking miserable. Quartz paced around the cell. Eggman barely even glanced in their direction whistling a jaunty tune heading down a long corridor.

"Boss are you sure this is a good idea giving Metal Sonic an upgrade?" Orbot queried. "Not to bring up old wounds or anything, but didn't Metal Sonic overthrow you the last time you gave him an upgrade?"

Eggman frowned tightly clasping one of the shards of the Phantom Ruby in the palm of his hand. A small nagging voice in the back of his mind told him it was a bad idea giving Metal Sonic an upgrade. Eggman pushed away from the small nagging thought elsewhere determined to carry on with his plan.

"I'm well aware of the last time you told me Orbot. I took the time to reprogram Metal Sonic since I removed all traces of his disobedience and he's proved to be even more loyal then Infinite," Eggman replied in irritation. Besides, I received a report from one of my Flappers Infinite has escaped the Resistance's custody and is heading to Park Avenue even as we speak. It would be the perfect time to put Neo Metal Sonic through his paces."

Eggman paused in front of a pair of doors inputting a small combination into the keypad. With a hiss, the doors opened up revealing a large dark room. Metal Sonic hung there suspended from several large cables hooked into his back, legs, and arms. The white stripe stood out against his head. Eggman smiled walking towards Metal Sonic feeling the shard of the Phantom Ruby pulsing in the palm of his hands.

"You've proven yourself to be loyal Metal Sonic," Eggman spoke softly. " You're my prize creation. In return, your upgrade is your reward."

Eggman quickly stepped forward typing in a few keys on the keypad. In response, Metal Sonic flexed his fingers. A pair of red optics activated. Neo Metal Sonic felt the wire detaching from him allowing his feet to touch the ground. Eggman's prize creation ran a self-diagnostic for a few moments satisfied with the improvements made to his design.

"So, Doctor you've wisely chosen to upgrade me," Neo Metal Sonic spoke. "I am at your command to help preserve the Eggman Empire. What is your first command?"

Eggman couldn't hold back his sinister grin. His prize creation was now willing to obey his every command. Eggman didn't want to admit his fear of coming so close to Neo Metal Sonic, standing so close to him. Eggman shuddered inwardly recalling the last time his prize creation overthrown him stealing his empire from right out underneath him. Eggman felt relieved Neo Metal Sonic so far showed no intentions of seizing control of his empire.

"Go to Park Avenue and bring me back Infinite so I can wrench his ruby from his chest," Eggman sneered. "Besides that jackal stole something from me, and I want it back no matter what the cost is. Also, surely terrorizing the citizens of Park Avenue wouldn't be too much trouble for you. Since Sonic will certainly be heading to Park Avenue, I want you to capture him and bring him back to me. Have I made myself clear?"

"I understand my orders master Eggman. My victory will be a glorious new beginning for the rebirth of the Eggman Empire."

Neo Metal Sonic respectfully walked past Eggman before breaking into a fast-paced run heading down a long corridor before he came to an open window taking off into the early night skies. Metal Sonic revved up his engines heading towards Park Avenue. Neo Metal Sonic raced through the skies with one goal firmly implanted into his central processor relishing the moment he would finally put an end to Sonic's life.

* * *

Author's _note Even though the Resistance has triumphed over the Eggman Empire things are not going to settle down since with Infinite on the lose once more, things are still going to be tense. One thing I was curious about the ending was wondering where the Avatar character took off to at the end of Forces. The consensus is that he went off to help other people affected by the war._ Gadget _is determined to chase after his former friend to prevent Infinite from causing any more damage and devastation._

 _Eggman does indeed have reservations about upgrading Metal Sonic mostly due to Metal Sonic's previous betrayal in Sonic Heroes. It presented me with an opportunity to showcase Eggman's doubts about improving his prize creation. I'm not going to say any more on the subject as you'll have to wait and see how their relationship will play out in future chapters. Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys still have their Phantom Ruby fragments, mostly due to Eggman believing they'll be able to serve some role in the grand scheme of things._

 _As per usual thoughts/constructive, criticism or if there are any accidental errors I need to fix and reviews are welcomed and appreciated, and I will talk to you guys soon with the next chapter._


	34. Battle in a ghost town

_Author's note, First of all, I'm sorry for the slight delay with this chapter. I was busy celebrating a family member's birthday resulting in good time. Also, life got a little hectic so here's the next chapter for everyone to enjoy._

 _I want to give a thank you to SD321, Alexandria Prime, TGN, Yami Chaos 27, bajy, Petsnana G, Keyblade Writer of the Dawn, Turquoise Triangle, Sharp DragonKlaw, Black Twilight Wolf and guest for your reviews and comments._

 _Disclaimer I own only the plot and my own OCs. Sonic the Hedgehog belongs to Sega._

* * *

Park Avenue once had been one of Mobius' best tourist attractions. Beautiful gardens featuring a variety of flowers and plants attracted tourists from all corners of the planet. The medium-sized town also had a wide range of entertainment such as nightclubs, bars, and cinemas. The small population living in the town affectionately called their home the tourist capital of the world. Due to Eggman's conquest of the world, Park Avenue now resembled a ghost town with most of its population captured by Eggman's forces. The once immaculate gardens reduced to nothing more than ruined plots of land along with infertile soil. Where buildings once stood, they were nothing more than smoldering piles of rubble.

Gadget walked throughout Park Avenue's streets saddened by the destruction. The wolf noticed a group of residents working together in a small group rebuilding several houses. It was amazing to see after all the death and destruction inflicted by Eggman's conquest of the planet. Gadget admired the citizens somehow finding the strength to repair their homes pushing past their grief, despite losing their loved ones in the war.

"I hope Sonic and Tails get here soon," Gadget breathed out. "Maybe leaving Mikhl and Kaito behind wasn't a good idea. After nearly losing Kaito during Operation Big Wave I see no reason why Zerinn would want to hurt his half-brother."

Gadget made his way towards a busy square packed with a crowd of citizens moving about rebuilding several half destroyed structures. A young fennec fox and hyena looked up speaking to each other in low tones of awe at the sight of the red wolf. Gadget noticed their gazes zero in on the healing burn scars on his back.

"Wait a minute, isn't that Gadget, one of the heroes of the Resistance?"

Gadget swallowed nervously hearing shouts of joy at people recognizing him. The wolf turned around noticing a small crowd of citizens surrounding him. Before they hastily parted ways Gadget wished Sonic or someone else could've warned him about the perils of being famous. Gadget felt the old familiar bubble of anxiety building up in his chest.

"What was it like staring Eggman's masked monster in the face?" An azure chameleon questioned Gadget."I'm willing to bet it was terrifying right?"

"Can I please get your autograph?" A young female purple dog asked her eyes shining with admiration. "Are you single?"

"What was it like fighting alongside Sonic the Hedgehog?" A light green bird asked. "I've heard he's a cool guy, but he can be a little cheesy."

Gadget hesitated unsure how to answer the barrage of questions. The wolf struggled to come up with appropriate responses. To Gadget's relief, he noticed a flash of metal lying on the ground not too far away from his location. Gadget froze recognizing Infinite's mask lying on its side.

"I'm not here to sign autographs," Gadget explained to his new fans. "Infinite has escaped from our prison, and I need to recapture Infinite as soon as possible."

At Gadget's words, his fans broke panicked expressions forming on their faces anxious mutters in the air. An ebony furred bear pushed a few citizens aside his eyes blazing with anger.

"Why didn't the Resistance lock him up?" An angry bellow escaped the bear's lips. "In my opinion, you should've killed him when you had the chance."

A chorus of voices rose up in agreement with the bear's statement. Gadget swallowed again staring at the crowd of hostile faces glaring at the red wolf.

"Please everyone, I need you to tell me where Infinite was last sighted," Gadget pleaded with his new fans. "I know the possibility of Infinite being in Park Avenue scares you. Once he's back in either the Resistance's or G.U.N's custody, I can reassure all of you he will be locked up in a secure facility."

The crowd swiftly parted allowing the young wolf to run over to the mask resting on the ground as he bent down on one knee picking up Infinite's symbol of fear in his hands. Gadget turned it from side to side gazing at the red sheet of glass still intact, as his fingers brushed something wet and sticky clinging to the surface of Infinite's symbol of fear. The wolf winced feeling the blood sticking to his hands causing him to shudder.

"This blood is still wet," Gadget mumbled to himself. "That means Infinite is still here."

The wolf noticed a few splashes of blood lining the cobblestones. Gadget swiftly followed the blood trail seeing several members of his fan club running away no doubt to inform the Resistance about Infinite's location. Gadget heard a harsh cough coming from a nearby alleyway.

The wolf hurried over to the alleyway swiftly turning around a corner. Gadget noticed Infinite lying on top of several rubbish bags staring at the sky. At first, Infinite didn't see Gadget lying on his back different colored eyes staring up at the sky. Infinite rolled off the bags coming to a rest on his left side. Infinite lifted his head meeting Gadget's eyes.

"So, the Resistance has sent my former friend to kill me?" Infinite wheezed. "Go ahead. I've got nothing left. You don't have the guts to shoot me."

Gadget held out his Wispon trembling, keeping it pointed at Infinite recalling their first encounter. The dead bodies of Russell, Aria, Tyson, Ian, and Mary lying at Gadget's feet. Gadget realizing Infinite only allowed him to live watching his friends die in the act of cruel mercy. Infinite taunting him before forming a ball of energy in his hands firing it at Gadget knocking him off his feet. Cold, mocking laughter ringing in Gadget's ears as the young wolf ran away from his tormentor, his eyes wet with unshed tears.

"Infinite, you've become blinded by what that ruby's done to you," Gadget pleaded with Infinite."I know you have to face justice for your crimes, and you were never weak. You've confused your own perceived weakness for your strength."

"I've killed thousands of people child. For the promise of power I also helped Eggman bring this world to ruin," Infinite growled. "Have you also forgotten I tried to kill everyone with a giant artificial sun?"

Before Gadget could answer his former friend's question, Infinite formed several magenta balls of energy throwing them at Gadget. The red wolf dodged them effortlessly, narrowly feeling one skim across his arm. Gadget clenched his teeth at the pain noticing a flash of blue followed by high-speed winds colliding with Infinite. Sonic landed a punch on Infinite. The jackal kicked out his foot connecting with Sonic's shin, avoiding another attack by the Blue Blur.

Sonic rushed over to Gadget pulling him to his feet. A look of relief appeared on Gadget's face at Sonic's timely arrival.

"Gadget are you okay?" Sonic asked.

"I'm fine," Gadget replied. "I never should've taken off like that. The sooner Infinite's locked away in a secure prison for good, it should put everyone's minds at ease."

"That sounds like my kind of plan," Sonic said with a grin. "When we arrived here, we received a message from Rouge, G.U.N's sending one of their units to arrest Infinite.

Infinite glowered preparing another attack only for a flash of orange fur coming from seemingly out of nowhere. Tails tackled Infinite knocking the weakened jackal off his feet. Infinite winced as his back slammed into the cobblestones winding him. Sonic, Tails, and Gadget got into a stance ready to attack Eggman's former second in command. Infinite rose to his feet, making eye contact with his enemies.

"Why do all of you fight to protect this boring world?" Infinite asked his question. "Half of my squad is gone. The Phantom Ruby was my source of ultimate power. I gave it my heart and soul, and it turned on me. This world will never change. Just let me die!"

Sonic heard the jackal's desperate plea at the end of his sentence. The hedgehog glanced back at the crowd at the alleyway's entrance. Gadget shared a wary look at Infinite staring defiantly at his enemies. In an instant, the jackal traced his fingers over his shattered ruby followed by a magenta flash of light.

When the bright flash of light faded away, Sonic felt a firm grip forcefully turning Sonic around to meet the yellow eyes of a scarred jackal glaring at him. Sonic noticed both Gadget and Tails confronted by a pair of illusionary jackals glitching out small magenta cubes dancing around their bodies. Two more illusions stood together pointing their weapons at him.

"Resorting to your oldest trick in the book by summoning up fake illusions just to scare me?" Sonic asked smirking. "That little trick is getting old by now."

At Infinite's silent command two of the illusionary jackals rushed Tails and Gadget. Tails lunged for one of the illusionary jackals ducking underneath a well-timed dagger slash from a female jackal kicking out at her chest. Tails' kick caused a few cubes from out of her shoulder. Gadget fought with another illusion. Gadget's heart clenched at the sight of Fenrir, Hela, Roscoe, Blade, and Iris.

"Blade, Roscoe, Iris, Hela and Fenrir, I'm so sorry I left," Gadget whispered. "Maybe if both Mikhail and I hadn't fallen out with Zerinn then maybe all of you would still be alive."

Sonic avoided another katana slash from one of the scarred jackals kicking out on his shoulder. Infinite lunged for Sonic's wrist seizing it in a tight grip. Sonic winced at the sudden pressure kicking Infinite in the chest, forcing Infinite to release his hold on Sonic's wrist.

"When your ruby shattered. It must've been agonizing for you," Sonic snarled. "At least after inflicting fear and pain on the citizens of Mobius for six months, you've experienced it yourself. Throwing your life away won't bring those who died back. Besides, you tortured me for over six months as well. You have no idea of the emotional suffering you inflicted on me, by constantly showing me those sick illusions of my friends dying in violent ways."

Infinite readied himself for another attack when suddenly a flash of dark blue metal flew through the late evening skies. Sonic and Tails glanced up spying a familiar robotic hedgehog looking down at them menacingly.

"Well, it looks like Metal's back for round two," Sonic said grinning. "It looks like Eggman gave his favorite toy an upgrade."

Neo Metal Sonic flew over the rooftops flexing his fingers sending out several energy balls raining down on the weakened structures destroying them. Panicked screams from the citizens filled the air as they broke into a run heading for Park Avenue's exits. Egg Pawns landed between them and their escape path. Neo Metal Sonic landing feet first surveying the panicking citizens. Eggman's prize creation turned his attention towards Sonic.

"Hello Sonic, my loathsome copy," Neo Metal Sonic spoke his voice carrying all over Park Avenue. "Our last battle in Metropolis didn't end in my favor. This time my creator was more than kind enough to give me an upgrade. This time our battle won't end in your victory this time it will end in your death. Egg Pawns secure the traitorous jackal, so my creator can remove his shattered Ruby. Long live the Eggman Empire."

Sonic grinned relishing in the challenge Neo Metal Sonic issued him allowing a cocky smile was shaking his head from side to side.

"That's what you always say, Metal. If you're so eager for a clobbering, I've got one right here for you," Sonic said grinning eagerly. "Besides it's strange how you never want to give up when I kick your butt every single time in our clashes."

Sonic charged forward ignoring Tails' warning shout running at full tilt towards his robotic counterpart. Neo smirked stepping off to the side grabbing onto Sonic's fists. The cold steel digits dug deep into the material of Sonic's white gloves digging into Sonic's flesh causing blood to well up staining Sonic's gloves red. Sonic gasped out in pain before wrenching his hands-free from Neo's grip. Sonic responded with several homing attacks into Neo Metal Sonic knocking him to the ground.

Infinite effortlessly destroyed several robots on his own keeping his distance from both Gadget and Tails. Tails destroyed several Eggpawns leaving robotic parts. Gadget activated his grappling hook noticing several citizens huddled in a pile crowding together, shaking in fear averting their eyes too afraid of being taken, prisoner. Tails froze in place his azure eyes fixating on the citizens seeing several Egg Pawns and Flappers creeping ever so closer to the group of citizens.

"I'll go help the citizens, Sonic!" Tails informed Sonic. "Keep Metal busy!"

Sonic heard Tails' shout with a mixture of dread and anxiety in his stomach. Several Egg Pawns shifted their attention towards Gadget and Infinite. Gadget helped the jackal to his feet ignoring the tired, half-hearted glare Infinite shot over in his direction.

"There's no way either one of us is going to like this Infinite," Gadget said unleashing his Wispon on several Egg Pawns. "Fighting together will better our odds, we'll escape unscathed. Think of it as punching Eggman in the face."

"You abandoned me when I needed you the most," Infinite growled. "Even though it won't sway anyone's opinion of me. I'll fight alongside you this one time. It won't change anything. You were too weak to stomach what my squad to do to survive."

Despite his weakened condition, Infinite grappled with robots severing cables, tearing off limbs. Gadget and Infinite fought well together. Sonic shifted his attention from Gadget and Infinite noticing Neo Metal Sonic lying at his feet.

"If you want to call it quits Metal, now would be a good time," Sonic said with a cheeky grin. "Besides, I defeated you once with Tails and Knuckles at my side. I'll give you this. Both you and Eggman should win awards for the most persistent villain duo."

"Eggman's been working on an inferior version of me," Neo Metal Sonic snarled raising his head looking at Sonic. "My creator sent me on this mission to launch an attack on this ghost town to put my abilities to the test. During our fight, I've been able to copy your BioData, Sonic."

"Oh, I forgot you could copy other people's abilities," Sonic frowned. "So, I guess asking for a do-over is too much to ask?"

Before Sonic had time to react Neo exploded into a supersonic run landing several kicks into Sonic's midsection. A punch right into Sonic's abdomen, steel cold fingers clamping around Sonic's neck briefly tightening his grip.

Sonic struggled to try in a vain attempt to pry Neo's hand away from his windpipe. To Sonic's surprise, Neo Metal Sonic loosened his grip dropping Sonic to his feet watching Sonic rub at his neck gasping for oxygen.

"There is one more surprise I have in store for you Sonic," Neo Metal Sonic said. "My master doesn't need to know about your demise. I want the satisfaction of finishing you off all to myself."

Sonic watched in silence as his robotic counterpart reaching behind his back, pulling out the light blue Chaos Emerald. Sonic froze in fear at the sight of the Chaos Emerald resting in the palm of Neo Metal Sonic's hand. Metal's optics flickered taking in the slightly fearful expression on Sonic's face.

"I stole this Chaos Emerald right out from under Eggman's nose," Neo Metal Sonic intoned in a monotone tone of voice. "Besides it's to my understanding that you can use a certain ability known as Chaos Control."

Sonic blinked in horror, the full realization crashing down onto him seeing Eggman's second in command lifting the Chaos Emerald into the air fully realizing his robotic doppelganger's intentions.

"Chaos Control!"

Neo Metal Sonic vanished in blue light. Sonic eyes' darted around trying to keep track of his enemy's next move. A cold heavy foot slammed into his back knocking him to the ground. Sonic yelped in pain feeling razor sharp digits tossing Sonic into the air. Another flash of blue light resulted in another kick connecting with his flesh. Sonic bounced off the ground. Neo Metal Sonic appeared in a flash of light next to Sonic kicking him into a wall. Sonic fell to the cobblestones along with small debris lying flat out on the pavement small pieces of debris scattered around his body.

"Have you had enough?"

Sonic groaned in pain, slowly picking himself up looking around noticing Tails still fighting against an army of Egg Pawns. One of them pulled Tails down by one of his feet, several of them swarming Sonic's adoptive brother.

"Tails!"

Sonic avoided another one of Metal Sonic's attacks, running frantically to aid Tails. Sonic heard the distant flash of Chaos Control. This time Sonic darted out of the way hearing a shout of frustration from his enemy. Sonic pivoted around kicking out wincing feeling his foot striking cold stainless steel knocking Neo Metal Sonic against the ground forcing him to drop the light blue Chaos Emerald in the process.

The hedgehog ran back grabbing the Chaos Emerald smirking in satisfaction with nothing to deter him. Sonic raced to Tails' aid quickly homing attacking several Egg pawns sending a storm of parts scattering all over the cobblestones. Sonic kneeled down helping Tails stand up.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner," Sonic said. "Man, I think you did more damage to the robots, then they did to you."

"Thanks for your concern, but I'm okay Sonic," Tails replied smiling dusting himself down with a few bruises on his arms and legs. "I'm a little bruised. Don't forget I fought against Zavok in the Death Egg and a fake Chaos in Mystic Ruins."

Meanwhile, Gadget and Zerinn continued their fight against Eggman's robots. Infinite destroyed several by forming an illusion of his short crimson sword hacking away at then. Gadget alternated between activating his grappling hook and using his Wispon attacking the robots. Sonic heard approaching vehicles noticing several G.U.N jeeps skidding to a stop outside of Park Avenue's entrance heading towards Eggman's prize creation.

"We'll settle this another time Sonic," Neo Metal Sonic said. "For now celebrate your pathetic victory. This world will fall under Eggman's control again."

In an instant, Neo Metal Sonic clenched his fist ascending into the sky in anger due at losing his chance to kill Sonic. Sonic and Tails looked up glaring seeing Eggman's prize creation looking down at them.

"It is foolish to assume your victory will be permanent," Neo Metal Sonic said. "My creator and I have plans for this planet. One day you'll be his prisoners taking a one-way trip to his roboticizier."

Infinite glanced up baring his teeth in a fierce snarl. He knew it was risky attacking Eggman's prize creation. If Eggman's true intentions were to subject his former squadmates to the roboticization process, Infinite vowed to stop it. Infinite promised to himself he would get that information of Quartz's Saber's and Nephthys' location from his former ally even if he had to tear Eggman's prize creation into pieces to do it.

"You're not getting away that easily!" Infinite snarled drawing on whatever power his shattered ruby had left ascending into the sky unleashing several laster blasts, sending them in Neo Metal Sonic's direction. "Tell me where my squad is! I'll tear you to pieces and scatter them all over Mobius!"

Before Infinite unleashed another attack coughing, Neo Metal Sonic charged him at supersonic speeds gripped him by his left arm driving his digits into the fur along his arm. Tears of pain pricked at the corners of Infinite's eyes blood welling up from his new injury. The robot forced Infinite to look at those bright red optics boring holes into his body as a low chuckle escaped Neo Metal Sonic.

"They're still alive, but I'm sure they'll be roboticized eventually," Neo Metal Sonic sneered. "Besides, due to your ruby shattering, no one is going to call you Infinite anymore. I believe everyone will call you Zerinn from now. For now, I hope you enjoy your fall. It will be the last thing you'll ever experience."

Without warning, Neo Metal raked his claws along the black fur along Infinite's left arm. Infinite screamed in pain, his former ally letting him fall to his death. Metal seized his chance of taking off into the skies a deep blue blur fading away becoming a distant speck. Infinite heard the wind plummeting through his dreadlocks gravity dragging him down. Infinite turned his head staring helplessly at his death. A flash of cobalt fur jumping into the air, a pair of peach arms wrapping around him meeting a couple of jade eyes

Sonic quickly landed on the ground skidding to a sudden halt releasing his grip on Infinite. The jackal wriggled from out of Sonic's grasp turning around to face Sonic unsure of what to say. Infinite stumbled as Gadget hauled him to his feet. Infinite coughed twice with Gadget rubbing his back gently.

"Why did you save me?"

Sonic turned back in silence not taking his eyes off the sky searching for any signs of Neo Metal Sonic. A sigh of disappointment escaped Sonic's mouth at Eggman's prize creations' escape. Sonic turned his attention back to Infinite looking away from Sonic's gaze.

"Frankly, there's been enough death and destruction in this war," Sonic mumbled. "Besides, being imprisoned is the best solution for you Infinite."

For once Infinite didn't even struggle when a pair of steel-cold handcuffs placed around his wrists. A couple of rough hands led Infinite to one of the waiting G.U.N jeeps. Infinite settled into the seat aware of the weapons pointed at him with two sitting next to him. A single human stepped out of the vehicle offering a respectful salute to Sonic, Tails, and Gadget.

"Everyone in G.U.N owes a massive debt to both you and the efforts of the Resistance in overthrowing Eggman's Empire," the G.U.N trooper said. "We received a message from Rouge. We have one of the best medical facilities in Mobius. Besides, we received a report Neo Metal Sonic was in the area. There's always the chance Eggman will be back with one of his plans. You guys look like you need a lift back to Sunset Heights."

Sonic nodded tiredly opening the door fighting his unease sitting in the vehicle along with Tails and Gadget. Gadget stifled a yawn closing his eyes falling into an uneasy sleep. Sonic and Tails remained awake. Sonic felt a light tap on his shoulder. It was nearing nighttime now, hearing the low hum of the jeeps' engines racing back towards Sunset Heights. Sonic took a moment to appreciate the peaceful early nighttime sky. The hedgehog felt nothing but dread in the pot of his stomach at Neo Metal Sonic's return.

"Something tells me Eggman's out there planning for his next move," Tails said. "If Eggman's upgraded Neo Metal Sonic then that means he's got another plan in the works. Also, having his robots attacking a town to retrieve Infinite it has to tie into his new plan as well. We need to reclaim the other two Chaos Emeralds from Eggman."

"That'll be our top priority getting the rest of the Chaos Emeralds away from Eggman," Sonic replied grinned holding up his prize a soft light blue glow ignoring a stab of pain in his hands. "Well, at least we got another Chaos Emerald. Eggman's not going to be happy when he finds out Metal's lost one of his precious Chaos Emeralds. We'll also have to let Knuckles and the others know Eggman's back to his usual scheming again, though we don't know what it is."

"Whatever Eggman's planning, We 'll stop it like his plan like we mostly do," Tails mumbled yawning settling against Sonic. "I've been busy trying to reverse the roboticization process on those innocent Mobians. I've drawn up a few diagrams, and I need to make a few more calculations and adjustments before I begin my first test run."

Sonic nodded tiredly gazing out of the window at his passing surroundings, taking a last glance at Park Avenue. The smoking ruins of the town stood out against the darkening sky. Sonic couldn't explain it, but with Neo Metal Sonic's return, he couldn't shake the feeling that eventually, the brief peace he and his allies had worked so hard in their goal to topple the Eggman Empire. Sonic remained silent a small pit of dread forming a tight knot in his stomach.

 _None of us have any idea what you've got up your sleeve Eggman, but we'll stop it._ Sonic vowed to himself. The blue hedgehog slung his left arm around Tails drawing the young fox into a protective embrace. _We won't let this world fall back under your control._

* * *

 _Author's notes Now this was a fun chapter to write. When I first wrote up the outline of this story, I knew exploring Eggman's impact on the world would be the main point for me to focus on since the game glosses over it. There are a couple of small hints in regards to both Gadget's and Infinite's past. I also plan to drop even more clues about their history. It was a reluctant alliance between Gadget and Infinite. There is still going to be some tension between them, affecting Mikhail and Kaito as well._

 _Sonic's decision to save Infinite isn't because he wanted to save his life. Sonic holds a deep resentment for Infinite due to being subjected to seeing illusions of his friends dying repeatedly. Another reason is becuase there has been enough death and destruction during the war._

 _Neo Metal Sonic won't be the only returning face. An old face from Eggman's army will be making his debut soon._ The Master _Emerald will also be playing a part in the_ post-war _arc since I'm not going to say anything else on the subject._

 _As per usual if there are any errors I need to fix along with any thoughts/constructive criticism/ and reviews are welcome and appreciated. I'll see you folks with the next chapter next week._


	35. A changed world

_Author's note Again I'm sorry for the delay. My laptop experienced an issue which meant I had to take it in for repairs. Also, life got busy for me again. So I apologize for the delay. Thank you for being patient with the long delay._

 _As always I have to give thanks for TGN, SD321, Zoggerific, bajy, TurqoiseTriangle, YamiChaos27, SharpDragonKlaw, Fanakatsuki, Pyrein, Black Twilight Wolf and Keyblade Writer of the Dawn for leaving a review. I appreciate the support since it means a lot to me. Also, thank you all for sticking around for so long with this story._

 _A generous thank you to everyone who has either viewed, left a favorite or follow on this fic and for helping this story reach over 50 favorites and follows. Thank you all so much._

 _Thanks to Zoggerific, Atomic Senpai, Haxorus Knight, Invad3r and NintendoMan01 for favoriting and following this story. The support is very much appreciated._

 _A big thank you to Zoggerific for editing this chapter._ I'm super thankful for their help. Please do check out their stories. Zoggerific is a talented writer since I would personally recommend their stories.

There's not really a lot I can say about the next few chapters except the story will slowly be winding to a close, as things will soon be picking up again as we near the end of the story since we have over ten chapters left before the end.

Disclaimer. It's the same as the previous chapters I don't own anything. Sonic belongs to Sega. The only thing I'm taking credit for is this rewrite.

* * *

By the time Sonic, Tails, and Gadget arrived back at Sunset Heights night had fallen. The city which was once bathed in ubiquitous artificial lightning now glowed instead from pale silvery moonlight and the distant glow of dozens of lanterns.

From his vantage point, Sonic saw work teams toiling away amid the ruined city blocks. They hauled suitable construction materials from totaled buildings to shore up the remaining standing structures in the streets. A few of them even had their thick fur coats coated in thick patches of soot, the result of running headfirst into burning buildings to rescue their fellow Mobians.

Sonic felt an involuntary surge of pride in his fellow Mobian for though they lacked his fantastical powers they were still willing to help out however they were able: digging for those buried into rubble, going door to door to check on families huddled away into shelters and forming citizen patrols with hard-pressed law enforcement to hunt for criminal activity.

Like a rock awash with briny sea foam, the Resistance Bunker loomed over the sea of chaos. When Sonic came to a stop outside, he noticed Tails staring at citizens queuing up in a single orderly line outside at one of the city's few functioning water pumps.

A Hedgehog who had waited in line for hours pushed down on the water pump letting the precious life-giving liquid fill up his cast iron bucket. Once the bucket was full, the hedgehog moved on ahead allowing the next citizen in line to take her share of the water rations. Sonic watched as the hedgehog hurried back bucket in hand to the makeshift collection of tents which had been set up along the perimeter of Sunset Heights acting as homes for the weary refugees unable to find a fostering family.

"How are we going to be able to bring our home back to the way it used to be?" Tails asked, letting loose a soft sob. Sonic placed a hand on the vulpine's shoulder and drew him into a full body hug. Gadget gently placed a hand on Tails' shoulder while the young fox whimpered into the chest fur of his adoptive elder brother. Sonic said nothing for a few moments as he soothingly rubbed Tails' back in small circles.

"If we let Eggman commence whatever plan he's about to come up with then all of our hard work would've been for nothing," Sonic said. "We need to inform the rest of the Resistance about our encounter with Neo Metal Sonic. At least with Infinite locked up for good in a secure prison, that's one less thing for us to worry about."

Gadget nodded in agreement, his fingers gripping his utility belt tightly. Before the war when he and Zerinn were still friends, the utility belt had been a gift from his former best friend. The wolf recalled with a shudder upon seeing the white scarf sitting around Infinite's neck. The scarf itself had been a birthday present for Zerinn when he'd turned thirteen. Gadget would neither forget the look of joy on Zerinn's face when he wrapped the garment around his neck nor could he forget feeling sick to the stomach when he saw that same scarf adorning the neck of the killer his friend had become.

"Infinite has to face the consequences of his actions," Gadget concurred. "He accepted that offer to join up with Eggman in the first place. He nearly got his own younger half-brother killed along with eighty percent of our forces."

The door to the Bunker opened as Knuckles hurried out of the building with a tense frown on his face. Silver, Amy, Mikhail, and Kaito ran out of the bunker right behind Knuckles. Tails promptly broke away from his compromising position with Sonic while Mikhail raced over to Gadget throwing his arms around his half-brother drawing him in a tight embrace.

"You could've waited for us before you went after Infinite," Mikhail said fiercely. "Do you have any idea of how scared I was for you? Even in his weakened condition, Infinite could've still killed you. I can't afford to lose the only family member I have left in this world."

"I'm sorry Mikhail. I should've waited for both you and Kaito," Gadget replied. "There was no time. Infinite possibly could've killed even more people."

Kaito anxiously paced back and forth wringing his hands not making eye contact with anyone. In an instant, Kaito slowly glanced up making eye contact with Gadget, taking in a deep breath deciding whether or not to ask the one question he wasn't sure he wanted an answer too.

"Where is Infinite?" Kaito asked anxiously. "He's not dead is he?"

Gadget heard the desperation in Kaito's voice and recalled Infinite's form lying slumped over several garbage bags. He remembered the jackal's impotent rage, demanding to know why the Resistance wanted to save a boring world. Yet Gadget couldn't forget Infinite's back pressing up against his own as the two of them fought together against a wave of Egg Pawns. The wolf met Kaito's eyes, seeing him chewing his lip nervously awaiting an answer.

"Kaito he's been locked up in G.U.N's secure prison facility," Sonic answered. "But we've got a bigger problem. Eggman's upgraded Metal Sonic, since he's launched an attack on Park Avenue. That means Eggman is gearing up for another attempt to reconquer Mobius."

The news had an immediate effect on the citizens. Some looked up with visible dismay few spoke in hushed voices. A handful even went so far as to cross themselves, looking into the sky as though Eggman were to suddenly reappear with a new robot army along with an upgraded Metal Sonic leading another assault on the already damaged Sunset Heights **.**

"That's not the only problem," Silver said sullenly "Apparently a few Egg Sentinels have been sighted heading towards Red Gate City. According to one of our scouts stationed from one of a lookout post not too far away from here, he believes it will take them less than four days to arrive at Red Gate City. The people there are already organizing an evacuation."

Everyone in the Resistance fell silent. Red Gate City had been one of the last few locations affected by Eggman's takeover. After the conclusion of the war, reports came in from residents that the massive coastal city had no electricity, no water or heat. Most of the residents huddled together under thin blankets to keep warm. To no one's surprise several citizens mostly the elderly already died from starvation and exposure to the elements.

"We'll have to set up a small task force to deal with the threat of the Egg Sentinels," Amy quickly said. "Team Dark's already in Westopolis, helping with rebuilding the city and maybe we'll send a small team to scope out the situation with Infinite, just to make sure there's no chance he'll be able to escape."

Some Mobians agreed with Amy's statement dissipating the tense atmosphere around the members of the Resistance. Several members of the Resistance cheered at the mention of Infinite being imprisoned. Gadget glanced to his left. Mikhail nodded in approval before muttering something low under his breath. Kaito chose not to say anything. Knuckles titled his head towards the entrance of the Bunker signalling the small group to follow him. The hallways once packed with so many Mobians coming together was now quiet, with the majority of the Resistance members aiding in various rebuilding efforts in Park Avenue, Shamar, and Metropolis. The Chaotix lingered in a room speaking to several Resistance members.

"That sounds like a good plan," Knuckles quickly said. "Also, I didn't want to say this out loud with everyone listening, but I received a message from Rouge, saying the G.U.N Commander wanted Sonic, Gadget, Amy, and Tails to check up on Infinite tomorrow. They believe since he's worked with Eggman, it's possible he could be withholding some vital information from us about the Egg Sentinel attack."

"I want to go too," Kaito said quickly. "If my half-brother doesn't cooperate and if they choose to execute him, at the very least I want to say goodbye to him."

Knuckles sighed briefly making eye contact with Gadget in order to come up with an appropriate response for Kaito's dilemena. Gadget was aware of everyone looking at him. Gadget knew Kaito hated his older half-brother for his crimes. Gadget saw the pained expression on his adoptive brother's face at the thought of losing the only family member he had left in this world since three of his former squadmates vanished after the battle, presumably working for Eggman.

"Very well then if you want to go then I can't stop you," Knuckles breathed out. "I can't guarantee that he'll be happy about it. I'll admit this will be one of my last responsibilities as the leader of the Resistance since the war's over. I need to return back home to Angel Island. Sonic, Tails, Amy, Kaito and Gadget, I suggest that all of you get some rest for tomorrow since a vehicle will be here to take all of you to Westopolis."

Everyone fell silent at the echidna's statement. Sonic, Tails, Amy, Kaito, and Gadget wearily made their way to their sleeping quarters passing both Chaser and Sahara deep in a conversation. Amy headed into the female sleeping quarters while Gadget, Kaito Sonic, and Tails said goodnight to each other before passing out into a deep uneasy slumber.

In the early hours of dawn Sonic, Tails, Gadget, Amy and Kaito had been roused by the arrival of a G.U.N convoy and all but Sonic climbed into the pair of jeeps that had been allotted to them. The hedgehog chooses instead to keep pace with the convoy, running all the way from Sunset Heights to Westopolis anxious to see what kind of damage had been inflicted to the second largest city on Mobius.

Sonic heard the distant hum of a jeep's engine skidding to a stop at the entrance to Westopolis. Most of the buildings had been razed to the ground. Several large cracks ran along the roads, power lines lay toppled over to the ground. Sonic gazed around in stunned disbelief at the destruction all around him. The city was eerily quiet, a door opened revealing a pair of citizens glancing around the area nervously before closing the door in a hurry.

"This is horrible," Sonic breathed out. "Eggman probably killed a lot of innocent people. They probably have no power or food."

Sonic heard the sound of a jeep pulling up allowing its occupants to exit the vehicle. Tails, Gadget and Mikhail stood in silence surveying the scene. Tails took several steps forward looking over the destroyed city. Tails glanced over his shoulder at Sonic unable to gauge his brother's reaction silently taking in the sight of the destroyed city. Shadow, Rouge, and Omega were waiting for them. Rouge looked exhausted dark circles under her eyes indicating a lack of sleep.

"Westopolis was one of the very first towns Eggman attacked after he defeated you," Rouge said in a grave tone. "Most of its citizens were killed or fled the area when their power grid went down and there's a lack of food and water. All of the surrounding towns are suffering from the same problem. To top it all of G.U.N's down to only twenty-five percent effective."

A group of humans parted way for the G.U.N Commander to step forward. Sonic spied Shadow, Rouge, and Omega observing the scene beside one the few intact standing buildings. Commander Tower struck an imposing figure, raising an eyebrow slightly at Kaito who stared silently back in a gesture of defiance. Shadow bore faint scar marks along his upper right arm.

"Commander Tower," Rouge said with a curt salute.

"Thank you Rouge. On behalf of the Guardian Unit of Nations, I would like to thank all of you for your efforts in resisting the Eggman Empire," The G.U.N Commander said before taking a glance at his digital notepad. "We'll be escorting you to the prisoner for interrogation as the doctors have informed me that his medical condition has stabilised. He hasn't said a word ever since we brought him in and even tried to assault a medical orderly. Given the dangers involved, we can only take Sonic, Tails, and Gadget to the prisoner. Everyone else will have to wait in the reception."

Staring Rouge straight in the eye the G.U.N commander added "You'll be heavily escorted at all times throughout Infinite's already tried to escape once, by squeezing through the bars," Shadow spoke up. "Unluckily for him, I caught him in the act by pulling him back through the bars and he lashed out at me leaving the marks you see on my arms. This is the building where we keep our prisoners."

The small group entered the small makeshift prison complete with a front desk with a G.U.N military police manning the counter. Commander Tower proceeded to escort Rouge, Shadow, Sonic, Tails, and Gadget entering the long corridor. Walking in silence Gadget, looked around nervously at the prison cells on both sides of the hallway. The prisoners were mostly Mobians. However, confined to separate cells with reinforced restraints were a handful of roboticized Mobians.

"So, I guess these prisoners were in here because they were thieves?" Sonic asked Rouge.

"No, not really. People got desperate if we arrested someone every time they took a loaf of bread for their starving family this prison would have a line running around the block. No, these are looters Sonic and you know what the scariest part is?"

Sonic shook his head nervously.

"Most of them didn't even have criminal records before they were brought in here. Maybe that maybe deep down we're-"

"What about the Robians then?' Sonic asked, eager to change topics.

"Oh them? The roboticized Mobians you see in the cells were the ones piloting the ships in the final battle against the Eggman Empire. When Infinite didn't come quietly though. You should've seen him fighting all along the way down the corridor. He's in the single cell right at the end of the room."  
Commander Tower came to a stop at the last cell at the end of the hallway looking down with disgust at the black and white form lying on his side. The bars of his cell had been bent indicating the jackal at one point attempted to escape his cell. A slight movement revealed Infinite's wrists and ankles were shackled by small iron chains. Infinite lifted up his head glaring at the small group. Over twenty-four hours ago, the jackal's coat was covered in the distinct sheen of sweat. His shattered ruby pulsing in the middle of his chest. Omega pointed one of his weaponry at Infinite the jackal watching the movement in silence.

"If you do not answer the question truthfully, then you will be eradicated," Omega stated in a monotone voice. "Did you have any awareness of Eggman unleashing the Egg Sentinels marching on Red Gate City with the intent to destroy it?"

For a few minutes, a silence fell over the cell's single occupant. Omega silently pointed out one of his arms already preparing his arsenal eagerly to finish of Infinite. Rouge took several steps forward, Shadow reached out with a hand resting it on Omega's arm. In the silent standoff, Sonic seized his opportunity to ask the same question.

"So Infinite, what do you know about Eggman's Egg Sentinel attack?" Sonic asked.

Infinite remained silent. The jackal moved to his knees with some difficulty due to his ankles and wrists being restrained sitting up in a kneeling position making eye contact with Gadget. His fierce glare remained on his face for several minutes until it faded away to be replaced by a slightly more vulnerable expression on his face.

"Yes, I will admit it that Eggman did, in fact, discuss the plan with me, since he designed the Egg Sentinels to be unstoppable," Infinite spoke his voice hoarse. "They were meant to be used as an absolute last resort in case that fat bastard lost the war. My name is no longer Infinite. It is now Zerinn."

* * *

Author's note This chapter was intended to be a cooldown chapter after the events of Infinite's escape. I wanted an opportunity to show how everyone's been affected by the war. In my eyes, another missed opportunity in Forces was the fact we never get to see what happened after the events of the war, along with a lack of food, water along with other essential supplies most of the citizens have resorted to thievery in order to survive, in a ruined world thanks to Eggman's conquest of Mobius. Zoggerific deserves some of the credit for helping me expand on the scenes with the citizens struggling to survive in a war-torn world.

As for Infinite choosing to refer to himself as Zerinn once more, there is a reason for that it will be revealed soon. While this is a mostly uneventful chapter the plot will be picking up again, and things are going to go off the rails.

As per usual constructive criticism/ thoughts and reviews are welcomed and appreciated. I will see you guys with the next chapter hopefully next week.


	36. Difficult choices

_A/N When this story was first written all the way back in March I never imagined it would reach over 300 reviews and over 18,000 page views. Seriously thank you all so much for the support, you've shown this story also to everyone who favorited, followed or even viewed this story, for the love and support you've shown for this story, thank you all so much._

 _As usual a big thank you goes out to SD321, TGN, Alexandria Prime, bajy, Keyblade Writer of the Dawn, Turqoiuse Triangle, Fanakatsuki, YamiChaos 27, and Sharp DragonKlaw for leaving a review on this story. Thank you for the support for this story and for keeping me motivated to continue this story._

 _A thank you goes out to Latias Eevee, for leaving a follow. A shout out goes to Shredder 8 and Joz161 for leaving a favorite and a follow. I'm pleased to see that you're enjoying the fic and thanks for the support._

 _There are only ten chapters remaining until this story comes to a close. It's actually been a little emotional time. I'm not going to say a lot about what's going to happen in the homestretch, expect for things to get crazy. While the next couple of chapters are going to be calm before the storm chapters, things will be escalating soon near the end._

 _Disclaimer. I don't own anything except for this rewrite. Sonic is copyrighted to Sega_.

* * *

Deep within G.U.N's prison facility, the Resistance fell silent at their enemy's desire to be a called a name no one had ever heard before. Zerinn stonily glared back at his captors, a slight scowl pulling up at the corner of his lip. Zerinn shifted painfully on his side hearing the chains scraping against his fur scanning several of the hostile expressions glaring back at him judging him for his crimes along with his part in the war.

Zerinn chose to ignore everyone else in the room focusing his glare on Gadget who flinched feeling the hatred seeping from the jackal's glare. Gadget swallowed nervously meeting the intense stare of his former friend. Zerinn simply stared at Gadget with a slightly vulnerable expression. Gadget hesitated to inhale deeply and against his better judgment Gadget walked closer to the bars ignoring a warning shout from Sonic to get back before Zerinn had a chance to inflict another injury upon the wolf.

"I don't understand why do you want to be called by a name you abandoned?" Gadget asked.

Before anyone in the room could react Zerinn lunged out with his arm grabbing Gadget roughly by the wrist pulling him closer to the bars meeting face to face. Shouts of alarm rang out in the cell. Omega swiftly reacted to Infinite's sudden attack on Gadget, raising his arm again ignoring Commander Tower's command to stand down.

Sonic felt a surge of anger building up inside him upon seeing Gadget pulled closer to Zerinn's cell. An expression of pure terror appeared on the wolf's face, upon being closer then he wanted to his enraged former friend. Without the mask on his face Zerinn looked less intimidating without the mask covering his face, Gadget found his gaze drawn to a small burn scar partially covering the top half of Zerinn's scar.

"With the power of the Phantom Ruby, I had the ultimate power at my fingertips, my squad was behind me. Nothing could touch me. After Shadow killed my old weak self, I was free to assume a new identity, one which could never be defeated, but when the ruby shattered, it destroyed Infinite. Without that power, Infinite is dead and he's never coming back. That's why I'm asking to be called by a name I haven't heard in a long time."

Sonic with no hesitation raced to the bars reaching through them roughly yanking hard along the fur on Infinite's wrist forcing him to release Gadget who staggered back, wincing rubbing at his fur wincing from the pain. The wolf chided himself mentally for being so foolish at getting so close to his former friend. Zerinn retreated scowling settling down ignoring the heavy clink his chains rubbing away at his fur sitting back down on the floor.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Eggman's holed up somewhere would you?" Sonic asked.

"I have no idea where the fat bastard is," Zerinn replied curtly. "If I had any idea where the doctor was, I would dedicate my time to tracking Eggman down. Once I found him I would rip his limbs off one by one, then I'll unleash the power of my shattered ruby on that fat man. I will take joy in breaking his spirit, forcing him to witness illusions of his precious empire crumbling to nothing but dust. I will then demand to know which prison Quartz, Saber and Nephthys were at. It doesn't matter if they still hate-"

Zerinn's speech was cut off by a sudden violent coughing fit causing him to slump to his knees, his sides heaving. Alarmed Gadget took another step towards Zerinn's cell only for Kaito stepping in front of Gadget, holding an arm out acting as a barrier to stop Gadget getting grabbed by Zerinn again.

"I thought they said your condition was stable," Kaito said suspiciously "Although personally, I believe that prison for the rest of your life will be the best option for you."

"Those accursed humans forced me to swallow a foul tasting medicine. It took three doctors to hold me down while they did so. All it did was make me feel a little bit better, but I still want my revenge on Eggman for lying to me about what the Phantom Ruby making me ill like this."

"Actually, what if he was under the custody of the Resistance?" Gadget asked.

In an instant chaos broke out in the prison facility with loud panicked screams coming from the prisoners ringing through the air swiftly followed by the sound of all the prisoners rattled the bars of their cells screaming in panic at the thought Eggman's former second in command escaping and then killing them in a brutal manner to quench his sadistic tendencies. A few prisoners crouched in a corner of their cells their arms over their heads closing their eyes waiting for the inevitable moment they were going to die. Alarmed by the commotion several G.U.N soldiers raced into the room armed with tranquilizer darts swiftly sedating the prisoners before they could break out of their cells.

"Gadget, are you suggesting that after everything Zerinn's done, we're just going to let him go free?" Amy asked in disbelief.

"Did you forget he helped Eggman torture Sonic for six months?" Tails asked furiously. "Also he helped Eggman bring this world to ruin?"

"I'm sure Gadget nor anyone else in the Resistance hasn't forgotten that Infi- I mean Zerinn did all of those terrible things," Sonic said calmly, his gaze fixating on Shadow. "If we keep an eye on him, it should put everyone's minds at ease. Besides, he's not the only one in the room who tried to destroy the world."

Shadow tensed slightly directing his gaze down towards the ground. A twinge of guilt formed a knot in Sonic's stomach at bringing up the black hedgehog's past, and his role in the Space Colony Ark incident several years ago to take revenge for the deaths of his best friend and creator at the hands of G.U.N. In a way, it was ironic after the Black Arms invasion Shadow found himself joining the same military organization responsible for killing his best friend.

"I won't deny that I did those things," Shadow admitted. "The only reason I joined up with G.U.N in the first place was to keep my promise to Maria, helping to protect Mobius."

Commander Tower coughed softly alerting everyone to his presence noticing he had their attention. Sonic noticed Zerinn's eyes drawn towards the small device a serious look in his eyes. Silence fell over the holding cell everyone held their breath awaiting the human's decision on what to do with Zerinn glaring back defiantly at his enemies his upper lip curled in a fierce scowl.

"I will admit that we owe the Resistance a massive debt for saving all of Mobius. Truth be told, with a lack of resources, and with most of our forces concentrating on providing aid to other stricken cities, it would be a good idea for Zerinn to be placed under Resistance custody as it would free up some staff members to keep an eye on our prisoners here. We'll place a tracker on him to keep track of his every movement."

Shadow stepped forward holding onto a small black device resting in the palm of his hands holding up the tracker for everyone to see. A small black rectangular shaped device with a small red light something Zerinn didn't fail to notice, a grimace appeared on his face.

"Error, it is an unwise decision to allow Infinite to roam free even with a tracker on him," Omega interjected. "If there is someone capable of watching over him, there still needs to be precautionary measures in place to ensure Zerinn doesn't eliminate any more citizens. I'm fairly certain the Resistance will be able to keep Zerinn locked up away from society."

Everyone fell silent as Sonic, Tails, and Amy gathered around speaking in low tones discussing what to do with Infinite the jackal glaring defiantly at them all his tail thudding against the cold floor stirring up small particles of dust, cobwebs, and dirt clinging to his tail. The jackal cast one disdainful glance at Sonic his lips pulling upwards exposing his sharp canines.

"Then it's settled then. We'll be placing Zerinn under your custody for the time being," Commander Tower stated. "Shadow place the tracker around Zerinn's right ankle. I'll inform all of you right now if Zerinn kills one more civilian he will be executed is that clear?"

"We understand sir," Amy replied. "Don't worry he won't escape under our watch. Besides a lot of lives have already been lost to the war. We don't need any more blood being spilled since it won't bring those who died back."

Kaito nodded numbly heading over to the bars escorted by Shadow and Rouge. Zerinn looked up his eyes widening in disbelief upon seeing Kaito approaching his cell resting a hand on the cold metal bars. Zerinn reached forward slipping his fingers through the steel bars resting his hand over his brother's feeling the warm fur underneath his glove.

"Kaito, about every-"

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say to me," Kaito muttered. "Out of everyone here, I'm the only one who doesn't want to see you die, but I can't forgive you for everything you've done."

Gadget heard the cell door opening Zerinn to shuffle out his cell, wrists still restrained. Shadow came forward bending down on his knees slipping a black device around Zerinn's right ankle. Zerinn stiffened his heart in his mouth glaring down at his squad's murderer. For several minutes tense silence filled the room. Shadow noticed Zerinn flinch uncomfortable of how close Shadow was to him.

"Listen, if you still choose to hold a grudge against me for what happened to half the member of your squad, then they would've killed me first. I've been in your position before. A lot of people are going to say you don't even deserve this second chance. It's up to you what decisions you're going to make from now on."

Shadow stepped back allowing Gadget and Kaito to take Zerinn by his elbows walking alongside him in silence. Sonic, Tails, and Amy followed them into the lift a tense silence hanging over them like a dark grey cloud refusing to dissipate over their heads. Sonic and Tails hurried over to Gadget speaking in a low tone into his right ear.

"Gadget, are you sure you're going to be okay doing this?" Sonic asked worriedly. "You're very strong for going through with this. Seriously, if he gives you any trouble, just give anyone of us a shout and we'll help you."

"I hope we know what we're doing," Tails said keeping his voice low so Zerinn couldn't overhear them. "What if something goes wrong and Infi- I mean Zerinn escapes to kill even more innocent people?"

"I'll be fine, truth be told, I'm a little nervous too," Gadget replied. "But I have to be strong. Something tells me that there's still a small part of the Zerinn I knew when we were children. At least that's the belief I want to hold on to, but who am I kidding? The Zerinn I know is dead and gone."

"Hey, Gadget, that may be the case," Sonic said solemnly. "At least he'll be locked up where he won't be able to hurt anyone else, that's the important thing, besides we'll be able to keep a closer eye on him."

Gadget nodded numbly keeping a tight grip on Zerinn's left arm risking a glance over at Kaito who didn't say anything. Zerinn continued to walk ahead in silence his eyes closed refusing to look at either one of his brothers, the only sign he'd overheard their conversation was a slight curl of his lip. The small group walked away from G.U.N headquarters heading through the desolate city.

* * *

Eggman paced back and forth along the floor of the main control room of his base at Mt. Yuji. Several Egg Pawns rushed about gathering supplies following the commands their creator issued them, the portly human stood in silence with his hands folded behind his back surveying the scene. Surely Neo wouldn't have had much trouble capturing a traitor, would he? Another concern to the rotund figure was the fact one of his Chaos Emeralds was missing. The other two were in a secure vault in a location only Eggman knew about.

"Metal Sonic has a lot of nerve for stealing my Chaos Emerald," Eggman snarled rubbing at his temples. "He had no right to even take it with him in the first place. I mean how hard could it be bringing back one sick jackal?"

The sound of a robot's engine announced Neo Metal Sonic's arrival entering the large room through the open window landing on his feet stopping several meters away from Eggman's position. Eggman forced a neutral expression on his face upon Neo's return. The robot staring back at him stoically. Several minutes passed with Orbot and Cubot wisely choosing to leave the room aware of Neo glancing stonily at Eggman's face. The robot's glare forced Eggman to uneasily recall the time his prize creation locked him away in the hold of one of his ships from the Egg Fleet, then seized control of his fleet forcing Eggman to form a reluctant alliance with Sonic and his allies in order to stop Neo Metal Sonic.

"Well, I wanted to say congratulations for losing my Chaos Emerald which you took without my permission by the way," Eggman said pacing angrily in a small circle. " Not only did you fail to kill Sonic in another of your foolish ideas, but you also failed to bring Infinite back here, so I could extract what was left of his ruby from him. Because Sonic and his friends destroyed the original Ruby, I could use the base of the Infinite's ruby and combine it's power with Infinite's ruby, since it's a vital part of my plan to reconquer Mobius. Now, do you understand why I wanted that accursed jackal back in my clutches?"

For several minutes Neo Metal Sonic remained silent calculating a response to Eggman's question. The robot lifted his head to glare, glaring back at Eggman. Orbot and Cubot nervously looked on at the silent stalemate. Eggman took the robot's silence to have his worst fears confirmed tightening his fists, Neo Metal Sonic observed his master's expressions carefully gauging for any weakness, until Eggman's creation spoke again.

"It was an error on my part master. Losing the Chaos Emerald is a setback," Neo Metal Sonic said slowly. "But the good thing to come away from my recent failure is that I was able to copy Sonic's bio Data. It means he'll be no longer able to overpower me. I'll be truly superior to him, ending his life once and for all."

"Fine, fine, it still would've been nice if we still had all three Chaos Emeralds still in our possession," Eggman glowered. " Thanks to your blunder, we now only have two left. We'll talk about this later, right now I need to visit three jackals. It appears I still have a use for them even though they were supposedly the best mercenaries around."

Eggman stalked down the corridor aware of his creations following him until he arrived at the jackal's prison cell. Saber and Nephthys kept their gazes focused on the floor not wanting to make eye contact with their employer. Quartz looked up in interest seeing the fierce scowl gracing Eggman's face. Quartz approached the entrance to his cell ignoring Saber's frantic whispers to get back. Ever since Eggman had lost the war from their vantage point in their cell, the three former members of the Jackal Squad observed in silence Orbot and Cubot wheeling several large recycling bins filled to the brim with destroyed robot parts.

Eggman paused in front of the cell glaring at the three jackals sitting still on the hard benches lowering their heads in a gesture of submission with Neo Metal Sonic standing behind his creator eying Saber who risked a wary glance at the visor of the robot looking over the prisoners with contempt his metallic fingers flexed. Saber swallowed hard recalling the first time they'd encountered Eggman's prized killing machine in the desert bordering Green Hill Zone over six months ago.

"Well, it looks like things didn't go your way did they doctor?"

Eggman snarled in response reaching through the cell bars pulling Quartz right up to the bars. The jackal yelped in pain his face colliding with the cold steel of the bars. Eggman kept his hand pressed on the back of Quartz's hand for a few minutes. Saber and Nephthys were on their feet watching in horror as Eggman pulled hard on Quartz's right ear forcing the mercenary to gaze at Eggman's face.

"I don't want to hear anymore back talking from any of you," Eggman growled. "I want all three of you to come with me now. If anyone of you backtalks to me I can guarantee you'll be spending the rest of your life as a Robian."

Quartz wisely chose not to say anything in response hearing the cell open. Saber and Npehtys stood shoulder to shoulder protecting Quartz following Eggman down the long corridor their footsteps echoing off the metallic floor. Neo Metal Sonic followed them silently a sinister presence behind them. Saber titled this head meeting the cold gaze of those red optics tracking his every movement.

"Where are we going?" Nephthys asked fearfully.

"I've got an assignment for all three of you, along with someone else I have in mind. He's one of my older creations which I built many years ago to help me take over Angel Island. This creation showed great power and potential by tapping into the power of the Master Emerald nearly killing that guardian in the first place, but was destroyed in the process by that gullible idiot. However, I've been able to rebuild my creation from scratch with a few tweaks to his design."

Neo Metal Sonic tensed folding his arms across his chest stalking ahead in silence pushing past Saber and Nephthys. The group walked down the hallway until Eggman came to the end of the corridor his lips pulling back revealing a sinister sneer plastering on his face. Eggman reached up towards a keyboard typing in a combination hearing the door open with a loud hiss.

The small group stepped into the dark room. Eggman flicked on the switch illuminating the room revealing a hedgehog robot standing upright with several cables holding the robot in place. Saber took one glance at the strange device resting on a nearby table before he hurrying to catch up with his squadmates trying to ignore his brain screaming at him to run away from Eggman and his empire, but a small part of him refused to leave Quartz and Nephthys behind to experience what little mercy Eggman carried in his black heart.

Eggman smiled sinisterly approaching one of his older creation beginning to unhook the wires attached to his robot. Orbot and Cubot peering out nervously from behind his back eyes drawn towards a robot hung suspended by several thick cables. The rotund figure approached a keyboard typing in a combination Several loud beeps rang out through the room, a low hum filling the room as the robot lifted his head orange optics flaring to life.

"Welcome back to the world Mecha Sonic."

Mecha Sonic slowly raised his hand wrenching away the cables silently stalking forward. Upon the robots' approach Quartz, Saber and Nephthys flinched shuffling backward grouping together. Quartz swiftly reached up for one of the kunai resting in its holster. The jackal silently withdrew it his eyes darting back and forth between Eggman and this new threat examining them with his optics.

"You're seriously going to use an inferior version of me?" Neo Metal Sonic asked with disdain.

"Of course I am. At least I know Mecha Sonic can actually be trusted," Eggman sneered. "I programmed him to never take over my empire in case he deemed me unfit to rule my own empire."

Metal Sonic's response to Eggman's statement was to clench his fist provoked by Eggman's statement. Sensing he was no longer needed, Eggman's prize creation turned on his heel storming out of the room hearing the hiss of the door opening allowing him to exit. The closing doors signaled his departure. Once he was outside of the room and away from an inferior model Neo Metal Sonic continued his walk down the long hallway his digits clenched tightly his processor working to come up with a plan of his own, one that would make his creator respect him.

Eggman turned to face the three jackals and Mecha Sonic. Eggman smiled upon seeing Mecha Sonic giving him his full attention. Saber fiddled with the small shard of the ruby attached to its cord, Nephthys and Quartz said nothing, years of having followed their former leader's orders, all three of them cautiously observed Eggman awaiting their next orders.

"Alright, all of you will be heading to Angel Island tomorrow. I've heard from one of my spies Knuckles will soon return to Angel Island. It's crucial that all of you secure the Master Emerald since it's the centerpiece for my grand scheme to help me reclaim Mobius. For some reason, if any of you fail this mission apart from Mecha Sonic fail, then please allow me to demonstrate what will happen. I believe you'll be perfect for this little demonstration Quartz."

Before Quartz could react Eggman roughly grabbed him by his right arm pulling him forward towards the mini roboticizer wrenching the top open forcing Quartz's right arm inside the machine closing the lid on top of Quartz's arm.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Quartz screamed in fear.

"I'm going to show you exactly what's going to happen if you fail me."

Saber and Nephthys let out shouts of horror hurrying over to their comrade's aid only for Mecha Sonic to step in between them and Quartz glaring down at them menacingly. A bright flash of light filled the room along with Quartz's screams of horror, thankfully for Quartz the procedure mercifully concluded. Quartz slumped to his knees dimly aware of hearing a low hiss. Eggman opened up the mini roboticizier. Quartz's right arm lay transformed into a robotic appendage.

"What do you think of your new arm?" Eggman asked gleefully.

"How could you do this?" Quartz whispered in pure horror.

Quartz continued to stare in horrified disbelief at his new robotic limb, shaking fearfully from the shock of what had just happened to him. Saber stepped forward in disbelief reaching out to touch the metallic limb seeing Quartz flinch in horror, sinking to his knees pupils dilated with fear, his breath coming out in short gasps. Nephthys hurried over sinking to her knees placing her hands around Quartz's shoulders feeling him flinch from her touch.

"Personally I think it's an improvement," Eggman said icily. This is just a warning of what's going to happen if you don't come back with the Master Emerald. Personally, I think all three of you would make excellent Robians."

Quartz held up his right limb coated in pure titanium. The jackal felt the bile rising up his throat, rapidly turning his head throwing up what little contents were left in his stomach. The cold steel felt alien to him. Even touching the limb instead of feeling soft fur, the cold metal underneath his touch felt so wrong. Saber and Nephthys kneeled in horrified silence reaching out to touch the metal along Quartz's arm.

"This is horrible," Saber breathed out in fear. "We've made a terrible mistake."

Eggman took his cue to leave the room with Mecha Sonic following behind him obediently. Saber and Nephthys cast one last terrified look at Eggman's back hearing him whistling a jaunty tune not even caring about what had just happened, except for partially robotizing Quartz's arm like it was running an errand. In a stunned silence Quartz, Saber and Nephthys remained kneeling trapped in a dangerous web of lies and betrayal with a monster when he decided they were no longer useful they would be turned into cold unthinking Robians.

* * *

 _A/N Well I said things would escalate and they have indeed. Zerinn hasn't fully recovered from his illness, for now, he's stable, but only time will tell if it'll improve or worsen. Things aren't going to get even easier for the Resistance now they're forced to shelter one of the two individuals responsible for nearly destroying their home._

 _The idea of Quartz losing his arm to the roboticization process is something I've been planning for a while and the chapter presented the perfect opportunity to add another layer of cruelty to Eggman's character. Mecha Sonic is the obscure reference that will make his appearance. Originally for the in the previous chapter, the original plan was to have Mecha Sonic make his debut two things were going to happen. Mecha Sonic would've made his debut and Zerinn would've been placed under the Resistance's custody._

 _There are a couple of rewrites of Sonic Forces fics I highly recommend for your reading pleasure. They are Revengeful Resistance by TheGameNguyener and Sonic Forces Secret Strikers by Spider Dom 321. Check them out if you haven't already._

 _As per usual if there any errors I need to go back and fix/constructive criticisms/thoughts and reviews are welcomed and appreciated. I will talk to you guys soon with the next chapter which will hopefully be out soon._


	37. Unwelcome guests

_Author's note Sorry for the delay, I injured my wrist in an accident which left me unable to write for a good week and a half. However I was able to complete the last chapter before my accident since I used my other hand to post the chapter, the good news is that my wrist healed eventually, so thanks to all of you for being so patient while waiting for this story to come back._

 _As always a big thank you to TGN, SD321, Alexandria Prime, bajy, SharpDragonKlaw, Yami Chaos 27, Turquoise Triangle, Fanakatsuki, Black Twilight Wolf and Keyblade Writer of the Dawn for leaving a review I appreciate your support as always especially since we're coming to the end of the story._

 _I want to give a special shout-out to one of my best friends on this website TheGameNguyener along with a get well soon message since he's on a break at the moment. I genuinely wish him all the best. I also want to thank him for being the inspiration for giving Tails more of an important role due to both of us disliking how Tails' character was handled in the actual game. I know I've said this already, but do check out his fics since I would recommend them, especially Revengeful Resistance._

 _A thank you also goes out to Zoggerific who once again, for taking the time to edit this chapter. I would also recommend their stories, Confessions of a Tomboy Princess, and I'll always be there for you. If you're a fan of Archie/Sonic Satam, check out their fics mostly due to them doing an excellent job with the worldbuilding and character interaction, I would highly recommend both stories._

 _Disclaimer It's the same as previous chapters, I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog since it's copyrighted to Sega._

* * *

The Resistance made their way outside of G.U.N's headquarters and headed down a desolated street toward the awaiting G.U.N convoy which would take them to Sunset Heights. Zerinn padded between Gadget and Kaito. In spite of all that he endured, his tail was held up high in defiance, and in spite of the manacles that bound him, he maintained his gaze; unbroken.

A few citizens glared at the sight of Infinite escorted by two heroes of the Resistance. As the gawkers looked on, Zerinn turned his head; revealing the pulsing ruby on his chest. It was a silent warning of his power. With a cruel smirk, Infinite caressed the smooth surface of the gem, smirking in satisfaction as he saw them bolt to the makeshift shelters amid the ruins and their terrified faces peering out from the small temporary windows.

"Stop it Zerinn," Kaito hissed tapping him on his shoulder. "The last thing we need is anyone attacking us before we get back to the base." Zerinn paused, unsure how to respond when he noticed a row of jeeps parked just outside the group to Westopolis.

Sonic wordlessly, took off at the head of the convoy, heading back towards Sunset Heights to inform Knuckles that Zerinn would be in their custody; a decision no one was happy with. However, none could argue against the potential benefits of keeping an eye on the jackal and potentially studying his shattered ruby.

Amy and Tails walked ahead of Zerinn, locked deep in a conversation with each other. Zerinn didn't have to be telepathic to know they were talking about him. His jaw clenched in frustration, and his tail, coated with dust thudded against the floor although how much of it was due to frustration at his predicament and neglect was unclear.

"Knuckles isn't going to be happy about this," Amy said as she glanced back at Zerinn warily. "At least it should reassure everyone that Zerinn will be under our close watch."

"Personally I think he should've remained in G.U.N's custody," Tails replied scathingly. "He's going to endanger even more lives possibly. We didn't exactly prevent him from escaping the last time. He could escape on us again."

Gadget walked stiffly next to his former friend, scowling. The wolf tightened his grip, earning a small yelp of pain from Zerinn. The jackal jerked his head up making eye contact with Gadget, his mouth parting as though to say something before Gadget yanked hard on his fur.

"I have nothing to say to you Zerinn," Gadget replied.

Zerinn quietly climbed into the vehicle with Kaito and Gadget keeping a close watch on him. Kaito sat on Zerinn's left side, avoiding eye contact with Zerinn, the shattered ruby pulsed faintly. Kaito traced the faint scar on his fur where his fragment of his Phantom Ruby resided shuddering relieved the thing on his chest since had been removed.

The convoy followed Sonic back to Sunset Heights. Amy and Tails sat up front, occasionally stealing glances at the silent passengers. No one said anything; no one knew what to say. Amy glanced back at Zerinn who spent the uncomfortable silence nestled between his half-brother and former friend, occasionally scowling and picking at a loose clump of fur.

After what felt like an eternity, the convoy arrived at Sunset Heights. Sonic skidded to a stop, a tight frown on his face upon noticing several citizens ceasing their rebuilding efforts and heading over to the convoy.

Gadget exited first and escorted Zerinn out of the vehicle who was greeted at once with pure unadulterated pandemonium. Tails and Amy upon hearing the commotion hurried out of the jeep hoping to reassure some of the more timid Mobians down before they did something rash potentially losing their lives in the process.

"You said he would be locked away from everyone else!" A white-feathered Mobian bird called out as she stepped away from the crowd, anger plastered on her face. "Didn't you guys say the Resistance would do everything they could to keep everyone else safe, everyone is going to die because of your decision to keep Eggman's monster alive!"

A unanimous shout of agreement rang forth from the crowd with some of the more zealous Mobians raced towards the scene heckling the resistance members with several loud boos and pieces of debris. Zerinn shifted as much as he was able to avoid the shower but eventually, a small rock found its mark on his shoulder.

"That's enough!" Sonic called out. "Personally I'm all for locking Zerinn away in a secure cell on Mobius, but there have been enough lives lost, during this war, killing Zerinn won't change that."

The crowd stunned paused in their remorseless assault buying just enough time for Sonic to safely ushered the group towards the bunker and spotted Knuckles, Chaser, Sahara, Mikhail along with the Chaotix emerging from the Resistance base. It was clear from the expressions of hostility that Infinite was an unwelcome sight. Mikhail wasted no time sprinting past everyone and tackling Zerinn to the ground and landing a series of savage blows all while ignoring his yelps of pain.

"You're a monster, take a good long look at all the pain and suffering you helped bring to this world!" Mikhail screamed in anger. "You almost killed my half brother and everyone else with that sun! Russell, Aria, Tyson, Ian, and Mary they died because of you. Are you proud of what you did to this world?!"

Mikhail continued his verbal assault as Vector and Gadget pulled him away. The panting jackal scrambled to his feet, bleeding profusely from a split lip and a bloody nose. Kaito silently helped Zerinn to stand up without a word, placing an arm around his shoulders. Zerinn's tail lashed back and forth, his teeth clenched in a snarl as he yanked his arm out of Gadget's grip, walking briskly away.

"Mikhail, I know it looks bad, but please-"

"Gadget, please I don't want to hear whatever excuse you've come up with," Mikhail replied wearily. "Have you forgotten he killed our friends, nearly killed you and brought this world to ruin?"

Mikhail sighed before walking away, his tail dragging behind him, as the Chaotix made way for Mikhail to enter his room, Vector growled tightening his grip on Zerinn's left arm, ignoring the steely glare aimed in his direction.

Infinite growled, preparing to make a half-hearted lunge against Vector before a loud 'shink' and the cold feel of steel made the jackal halt in his tracks. Glancing down, Zerinn found Espio pressing a kunai against his jugular vein.

"If I were in your position, I would think about my next decision carefully," Espio said. "You do have a lot to answer for, Infinite."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Zerinn said half-heartedly. "If you want to kill me so badly then why don't you get it over with?"

"It's tempting, but there's been enough death and destruction in this war," Espio replied tensely removing the kunai from his neck. "Besides, in spite of what you did, you're Gadget's friend."

Knuckles approached Sonic, casting a disdainful glance in Zerinn's direction till he lost sight of the Jackal when he went into the bunker. Sonic sighed wearily, the last thing he wanted to deal with was Knuckles' attitude. Already, Sonic knew everyone in the Resistance was far from accepting Infinite even as a prisoner; owing to the risk of another escape and even more civilians killed.

"Why didn't G.U.N keep him in custody?" Knuckles asked.

"It's a long story Knux," Sonic replied wearily as he gazed at Amy and Tails and the small crowd gathered outside with terrified expression intermixed with looks of betrayal upon seeing Eggman's former second-in-command harshly hauled away into the bunker.

Sometime later, Knuckles paced back and forth listening to Sonic's explanation of Zerinn's desire to no longer be called Infinite; prisoners locked away for trying to provide for their families and how G.U.N itself was stretched thin trying to provide aid and arresting looters. Silver, Espio, Sahara and Chaser sat down at the table, for they were chosen from among the most level-headed members of the Resistance while Zerinn was forced to sit at the other end of the table.

Knuckles sighed rubbing at his temples, Silver and Espio sat in chairs around a large table listening intently as Sonic finished his story.

"Long story short, we're stuck looking after Zerinn at Commander Tower's request," Sonic said. "Personally, after being tortured, it's still too soon for me to forgive him. And I think I speak for all of us when I say no one here is going to forgive him right away for his crimes; that kind of thing is going to take time. But having said that, I firmly believe there's still good in him."

"That is a noble sentiment Sonic," Silver said slowly. "But, have you forgotten that he tried to kill me during our fight in Mystic Jungle. And he showed me an illusion of my parents dying, just to toy with my emotions. I can understand all of the points Commander Tower brought up, but I can't even face that unmasked monster right now, he's better of locked up in a secure facility."

"I agree with Silver," Espio said. "Besides how do we know he won't escape our custody again?"

"Heh, as if I can run away in my condition," Zerinn replied coughing. "Besides, there are times where I can barely stand due to this damn affliction. I have nothing left in this world as I told the blue rat, the two-tailed fox, and ... Gadget. We used to be good friends when were kids, but we had a falling out. It was mostly due to him wanting to join up with the jackal Squad but not having what it took."

Gadget swallowed as he was nervously fiddling with the material on his gloves, trying his best to ignoring the pain coming from the healing burn scars along his back. Sahara pushed back on her chair to examine his wounds, but Mikhail refused to speak to his younger half-brother and made his way to the target range to vent his rage on the dummies.

"Is what Zerinn is saying true, Gadget?" Knuckles asked.

"It's true," Gadget replied staring at Zerinn. "There's another reason why we broke our friendship; you crossed a line by killing those innocent people who had nothing to do with your hot-headed ego to prove that you're going to become the Ultimate Mercenary. I'm not afraid of you anymore Zerinn, and I'll prove it by escorting you to your jail cell; with the Commander's permission of course."

All eyes were on Knuckles, and the guardian sighed, from the corner of his eye he saw Chaos standing there alongside a pink orb silently reminding him of his duty. Sonic glanced over and spotted Tikal briefly before she vanished as though she had never been. Chaos lifted his head silently staring at Knuckles with those intense green eyes

"Yes, you can escort Zerinn to his cell for the time being," Knuckles said. "That's my last order as the leader of the Resistance; the war's over. I want to restore the Master Emerald. Also, I've been neglecting my duties for far too long. For now Silver and Espio will be in charge of the Resistance. It's been an honor to have been your commander during the war."

Silence hung over in the room. No one dared to protest the echidna's decision. Knuckles took one last look at the small group who'd followed him glancing back at him in respect. Deep down Knuckles knew he didn't deserve it. Countless Mobians under his command lost their lives during Operation Big Wave. Their screams would haunt him until the day he died.

"I know you want to get back to Angel Island, right now," Amy said. "You did make a few mistakes, but it was you who inspired everyone to keep fighting, you gave out speeches, and you recruited Gadget into the Resistance; who saved us all in the end. Thank you Knuckles for being our leader."

"Amy's right, apart from Operation Big Wave, you were a great leader," Sonic said smiling warmly. "You did a great job of inspiring everyone to fight back, against Eggman, during the six months Eggman kept me as a prisoner."

Knuckles smiled before giving a parting wave and exiting the room with Chaos and Tikal; the former leaving wet imprints on the floor. Gadget pushed back his chair Zerinn's arm helping him stand to ignore the weak glare Zerinn sent in his direction at being forced to stand. Together the two of them left the room silently as Espio faced Silver, solemnly.

"The Chaotix can help out with the rebuilding effort," Espio said. "If I'd been in charge I would've had Zerinn executed for his crimes; I will caution you now, no one is going to be happy that Inf- I mean Zerinn is still alive."

"First of all I'm going to ask Amy, and Kaito to provide backup for Gadget, in case Zerinn does something to hurt either of them. Also, Tails will inform everyone else about the situation, and I would recommend placing more guards around Zerinn's cell just to be safe."

The small group left the room Amy and Kaito hurrying after Gadget and Zerinn; Tails nodded running out of the meeting room no doubt to inform everyone about the current situation. Silver walked out of the room aware of Sonic briefly resting his hand on his shoulder, the telekinetic met Sonic's gaze, struggling what to say next his gaze dropping to the floor.

"What if I'm not fit to lead?" Silver asked sullenly. "I can't stomach the thought of losing even more lives, what if something happens and everyone else dies on my watch?"

"You're capable enough to lead the Resistance," Sonic said. "During my absence, you helped Knuckles lead the Resistance in the fight against Eggman, you faced down Infinite knocking the last of the Phantom Ruby prototypes from his hands, and you're a more capable leader, against whatever plan Eggman has up his sleeve. I promise you will return to your future when this mess is all over."

Sonic's words prompted Silver to smile genuinely for the first time in days, the young hedgehog inhaled, standing up tall and straight in determination, his hands clenched at his sides. A sure sign that Silver's resolve would be firm enough to lead the Resistance in the face of Eggman's new plan.

"Thank you Sonic, for now, and we need to get some rest. All of us need to be prepared for Eggman's next attack."

Sonic and Silver resumed walking through the hallway of the Resistance; stepping outside. A blast of arctic cold air hit the two hedgehogs in the face. The pair of hedgehogs glanced up at the darkening sky the last of the sun's rays slipping over the horizon. Sonic couldn't explain the sense of dread gripping his heart at the moment, to him it felt like an ill omen of things to come.

Night had fallen on Angel Island, splayed out below was the serene sight of waves lapping against the rocky surface of the island, a blue blur shot up the side of the island three jackals clinging for dear life to Mecha Sonic, the robot coming to land on the island's surface. The three jackals were slipping of Mecha Sonic's body; Quartz landed shakily staring at his arm before a faint snarl appeared on his face.

"If I ever see Zerinn, again I'm going to kill him," Quartz snarled softly. "He was the one who got us into this mess, so I'll take pleasure in slitting his throat."

"You'll have to contend with me for the honor of slitting Zerinn's throat," Nephthys chimed in. "He sells us out for that stupid ruby, and we lose half our number as a result. Kaito's insane for choosing to remain with Zerinn, in my eyes both of them are no longer members of the Jackal Squad."

A faint crackle of static came from the earpiece nestled in Saber's left ear, causing him to wince as Eggman bellowed from the earpiece. Saber muttered several curses underneath his breath swiftly removing the earpiece with one hand holding it at arm's length hearing Eggman's loud voice bellowing from the device nestled in his hand.

"May I remind you three that you have a job to do?" Eggman asked. "I'll be arriving soon with the Egg Fleet to help secure Angel Island, alongside Neo Metal Sonic. One of my robots sighted Knuckles heading this way a few minutes ago; your task is simple, kill that irritating Guardian and secure the Master Emerald. You know what'll happen to you if any of your fail this mission."

Saber didn't have to glance over at Quartz's roboticized arm, the sight of the metal limb sent shivers down his spine. This was all because of Zerinn, their selfish leader who had sold them out in an instant, choosing power over their supposedly close bond he'd once had with the other members of his squad. "Understood, we'll eliminate the Guardian. We won't let you down sir."

Saber waved his hand forward signaling Quartz and Nephthys to plunge into the dense undergrowth with Mecha Sonic right behind them. As the moonlight illuminated the sky, an uneasy silence fell over the island signaling the coming storm.

Knuckles sighed to himself having left Sunset Heights caught the wind beneath his dreadlocks and in the air Tikal hovering next to him. Chaos meanwhile opted to swim in the oceans surrounding Sunset Heights heading back toward Angel Island. In Knuckles' mind the sooner the Master Emerald was restored, the better. Silver and Amy had proven they would be able to handle the pressures of being the leader of the Resistance, but truth be told the Guardian was exhausted, the war was over. Sonic and everyone else could handle rebuilding the cities.

Deep within the Hidden Palace, Chaos stood in the middle of the Emerald Chamber, and Tikal hovered at his side. With the shattered fragments of the Master Emerald laying at his feet; Knuckles walked around the pair carefully setting down the emerald shards. Knuckles hesitated before setting down the last shard and making eye contact with Tikal. A question had formed in his mind; he wanted no, needed to ask Tikal this question.

"Tikal, do you think I'm doing the right thing now?" Knuckles asked "Leaving Zerinn; alive in the Resistance's hands. How can we be sure that he's not going to escape to kill any more innocent citizens?"

Tikal paused holding her hands close to her chest, a small tight frown on her face as she surveyed Chaos standing silently her hands clasped in front of her chest carefully contemplating her answer, a ghost of a smile graced her face as she came up with a reply.

"Have faith Guardian, and I'm sure your friends will be able to deal with Zerinn," Tikal gently said. "Despite making a few mistakes, you proved you were a capable leader for the Resistance, and it was time to return to Angel Island, I'm sure you will be needed again, but for now rest easy."

Knuckles smiled softly uttering a final 'thank you' as he placed the last fragment on the ground and watched in satisfaction the rest of the shards levitated into the air surrounding Chaos and Tikal. At once, their forms started becoming translucent before fading away into nothingness as they were once more resealed within the emerald's green surface.

With the ritual completed, Knuckles picked up the sacred emerald and placed it onto the bed of crystals. As he did so, a tremor ran through the chamber causing loose pebbles to tremble. Knuckles felt the island itself slowly began to ascend to the wide blue yonder. Knuckles sat down, very much looking forward to his long awaited rest. He knew that now he could leave the Master Emerald in the capable hands of Chaos for a time. Knuckles promised himself he would be helpful in assisting any stricken towns that needed their aid, but his duty came first, now since the giant emerald would be hidden deep within the depths of the Hidden Palace Zone, safe for the moment.

Knuckles exited from the Hidden Palace, making sure to close the doors behind him. A dull thud echoed through the air. Knuckles knew, for now, the Master Emerald would be safer in the confines of the Hidden Palace since he knew its secrets were safely Sonic and Rouge would even tell anyone the location of the Hidden Palace, the Guardian figured he could let his guard down.

A sharp crack filled the air, followed by a curse, Knuckles wasted no time plunging into the undergrowth with his fists raised. Rolling to the side, he drove one of them into Saber's back knocking the jackal out of the foliage, the two of them tumbled across the ground kicking up small dust clouds.

Knuckles drove a fist into Saber's shoulder hearing a yelp of pain; the jackal kicked out with his feet one blow catching Knuckles on the jaw forcing him to release his hold on Saber.

"Ugh, typical you jackals don't know how to fight fairly," Knuckles spat. "At least you're on your own, so I can end this quickly before your allies show up."

At Knuckle's boast, Saber chuckled sending chills down Knuckles' spine. Upon hearing the heavy tread of feet stomping through the foliage, Knuckles spun around only to see Mecha Sonic pushing his way through the foliage with Quartz and Nephthys behind him before they came to a stop several meters away from the Guardian.

Knuckles' jaw dropped upon seeing Mecha Sonic, remembering the last time they'd fought high in Sky Sanctuary when Eggman's creation had last drawn on the power of the Master Emerald and when Knuckles had destroyed it after a long, tedious fight.

"You're that strange hedgehog robot I fought in Sky Sanctuary," Knuckles said coldly. " It doesn't matter if Eggman rebuilt you. I'll reduce you to scrap again."

"I never said I was alone Guardian," Saber said coolly. "Besides I don't see anyone else coming to your aid at the moment; I'd just love to see you try and take all of us in a fight."

Knuckles gritted his teeth as he eyed his opponents. So intently focused was that he remained unaware of Quartz hiding his right arm behind his back. Knuckles knew that taking on Mecha Sonic and three members of the Jackal Squad in the best case scenario was suicidal, but Knuckles would fight to protect the Master Emerald.

"If you want to take the Master Emerald, it's going to be over my dead body!"

His decision made, Knuckles broke into a run toward the three jackals and Mecha Sonic who likewise sprinted toward him. Mecha Sonic took the lead, his metallic digits extended in an attempt to rend the echidna limb from limb. It's circuits desiring nothing more than to avenge his previous defeat.

* * *

 _Author's note I know this chapter came off as an interlude chapter, but I did intend to end this chapter on a cliffhanger. Also, it's time to bid farewell to Chaos and Tikal, since with the former having exacted his revenge on Eggman, it felt like their roles in the story had come to an end. Writing for these two characters became one of my favorite parts of this whole story mostly because I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to have Tikal alongside Chaos once more to make up for having their roles neglected in the core game series itself._

 _This chapter also presented me with an opportunity to have Knuckles return to Angel Island since the ending with having Knuckles confronting Mecha Sonic and the three members of the Jackal Squad setting the stage for the first part making up the finale to this story. Expect to see some more references to Sonic 3 and Knuckles due to it being one of my favorite games, and there are plans in store for Mecha Sonic. I won't say what those plans are for the moment, but I will tell you to expect things that will escalate within the next few chapters._

 _As per usual constructive criticism/ thoughts and reviews are welcomed and_ appreciated. _I'll see you guys soon with the next chapter, hopefully sometime next week._


	38. Assault on Angel Island

_Author's note, Hello there, I'm back with another chapter for this story, and if anyone of you has any upcoming exams, then I wish all of you, good luck with them._

 _As always a thank you goes out to TGN, SpiderDom321, bajy, YamiChaos 27, Black Twilight Wolf and Keyblade Writer of the Dawn for reviewing this story. As always I genuinely appreciate your support along with everyone who has either left favorite or follow, or even by viewing this story thank you so much._

 _With eight chapters remaining, and the only thing I can say about what's going to happen is you can certainly expect to see a Super Sonic fight that will decide the fate of Mobius, and that things will go of the rails in later chapters._

 _A shoutout goes to TrimusicaDrag00n90 for leaving a favorite, thank you so much I genuinely appreciate the support._

 _There's not too much left to say, and I hope you folks enjoy the chapter._

 _Disclaimer I don't own anything, related to Sonic the Hedgehog since the franchise is copyrighted to Sega. The only thing I can claim credit for is this rewrite and any ocs that appear in this story._

* * *

High in the skies above Park Avenue, a small fleet consisting of ten planes piloted by Resistance soldiers patrolled the night skies. Under the glow of a new moon, the thin cloud layer stretched out beneath their vehicles, a peaceful tranquility fell over the pilots glancing out of their window looking down at the clouds The leader of the Megadrive Unit a grey-furred cat sighed impatiently tightening her grip on the joystick banking sharply to the left her unit following her lead.

"Megadrive Unit, have you detected any signs of Eggman?" the grey-furred cat asked impatiently.

"So far, there's been no sign of Eggman Celia," a brown-furred hedgehog replied. "We've been patrolling this sector for the last several hours now if we don't find any trace of him in this sector, we'll have to launch another search in the next sector, above Westopolis."

"If there's no sign of Eggman we need to call it a night," the last pilot, a female magenta wolf said. "Besides we haven't heard of any mention of Eggman well right up until Neo Metal Sonic launched a raid on Park Avenue. I still can't shake the feeling he's out there somewhere biding his time to strike when we least expect it."

Through the static on her headset, Celia heard several of the pilots agreeing with the wolf's opinion. Briefly glancing to her right, Celia looked up at the sky through her cockpit window dotted with stars, along with the grey clouds drifting lazily below her plane. Celia swore her mind was playing tricks on her because for a split second she thought she glimpsed something silently tailing the small fleet of planes.

"So, what do all of you think about the new Commander?" Celia asked eager to change the subject.

"He's a bit inexperienced," Roger replied. "However with time, I'm sure he'll become a great leader for the Resistance."

Silence fell between the three pilots. Roger tilted his head noticing a flash of deep blue appear amongst the clouds ducking out of sight. A nagging voice warned Roger that there was a potential danger lurking in the skies around them which set him on edge.

"Hey, guys did you just see that?" Roger asked.

"Not a thing Roger," A purple bird answered in a bored tone of voice. "I heard this from one of my sisters. The higher-ups in the Resistance base have gone insane; they've decided to keep Infinite alive. He's currently being kept as a prisoner in the Resistance base, even as we speak."

Mutters of discontent crackled through the speakers, voicing the pilot's opinion on the matter. Celia didn't have to probe any further, she was still in disbelief over the news not only as Infinite was alive, but he was no longer in G.U.N's most secure prison facility. She couldn't believe Commander Tower had been so stupid to allow Infinite to be placed under the Resistance's custody when he'd been able to escape once before, leading to the possibility more innocents would be killed to sate the jackal's bloodthirsty nature.

"Well, it's clear to me that Commander Knuckles wasn't thinking straight," Genesis grumbled. "Has he forgotten we lost eighty percent of our forces in Operation Big Wave to Eggman's monster?"

"Knowing that gullible idiot he's probably forgotten about it already," Roger replied tensely. "Right now we need to be on the lookout for Eggman. Don't let anything or anyone else distract you from our task."

Without warning a loud siren erupted from beneath the cloud layer as several laser blasts tore through the cloud layer striking one of the plane's wings severing it from the vehicle; the pilot screamed in pure fear, the aircraft plummeting towards the ocean. The pilot ejecting seconds later, hanging in the air slowly falling back towards the sea before a pair of Egg Pawns plucked him from the sky holding him in place.

"We're under attack!"

The planes tightly swerved forming a tight formation and firing several lasers back. Like the worst nightmare anyone could imagine, the Egg Fleet ascended out of the cloud layer. Eggman smirked sitting at the controls beaming sinisterly upon seeing the horrified reactions from the pilots upon making eye contact with Eggman's face grinning sinisterly standing up his hands behind his back.

"Ah, welcome to the end Resistance pilots," Eggman said sinisterly. "You foolish Mobians thought I would never escape Null Space?"

None of the pilots spoke at a complete loss for words. Everyone in the Resistance assumed after the war Eggman had been lost to Null Space, resulting in his empire crumbling to shambles. Celia watched with mounting dread the tyrant who'd terrorized Mobius for the last six months was somehow still alive.#

"Witness, the might of the glorious Egg Fleet!"

Upon Eggman's declaration, the Egg Fleet ascended through the cloud layer, like sharks surrounding shipwrecked survivors. Before the resistance pilots had time to react, a hail of lasers erupted from all of the ships, striking wings, and tails, sending three planes into a stall watching them spinning out of control towards the ocean, the pilots plummeting towards their deaths thick trails of smoke trailing behind their aircraft.

Celia gasped feeling her plane suddenly jolt and hearing panicked screams coming over the intercom as several Buzz Bombers converging on Roger's plane attacking it relentlessly until a small explosion signaled to her what kind of fate befell her colleague, she stared horrified up into the cold red optics of Neo Metal Sonic.

"You are to come with me at once Resistance pilot," Neo said coolly. "My creator wishes to speak with you."

What happened next had been so quick, Celia raised one hand to shield her face from a shattering of glass followed by Neo's hands reaching down to grasp Cleia by the scruff of her neck. As Eggman's creation ascended through the air heading towards the main ship, a small hatch opened up in the side of the massive airship.

Neo Metal Sonic wasted no time entering the vessel hauling Celia through the wide corridor, her heart sinking at the sight of the Motobugs patrolling the hallways She spied the bird who escaped his plane being dragged by a pair of Egg Pawns, one of them held their blaster to his head, the bird whimpered in fear.

"Please let us go," The bird said in a low whisper, "We won't cause any trouble, we'll tell you what Eggman needs to know."

Celia kicked out at the bird forcing him to shut up, preventing him from potentially spilling any vital secrets. Neo Metal Sonic walked between the two prisoners grabbing them around their arms marching them towards the front of the ship. Eggman was already standing in the main control room of the vessel, Orbot and Cubot hovering at his side. Much to the other pilot's horror, several Robians sat at the consoles monitoring various parts of the Egg Fleet.

The two Mobians were forced to kneel with Neo Metal Sonic placing a foot in the small of their backs. Celia didn't want to make eye contact with the dictator who formerly enslaved the world. At a command from Eggman, sharp digits dug into her clothing drawing blood, the red sticky substance clinging to Neo's fingers as the robots shoved Celia forward along with her comrade.

"Here are the fools, who tried to fight back," Neo Metal Sonic said. "Shall I throw them in the Roboticizier?"

"For now, not at the moment," Eggman said with a sinister smile. "The Eggman Empire is on the verge of being reborn since I'll be heading down to Angel Island to witness the guardians demise. Such a glorious event requires an audience."

Eggman snapped his fingers, and one of the monitors flickered to life, the image showing Knuckles confronting Mecha Sonic, and the Jackal Squad. Quartz sliced through the air drawing blood along Knuckles' shoulder; the guardian staggered slamming his fist into the jackal's face, the force of the blow causing Quartz to stagger reeling from the low. As Mecha Sonic lunged for Knuckles pulling him back the guardian punched Mecha Sonic away from him.

"Also on a separate note, I'd like to welcome you to your precious leader's demise," Eggman said smiling sinisterly. "Enjoy the show, once Angel Island's been conquered soon all of Mobius will follow suit."

Without another word aimed at the pilots, Eggman walked out of the main control room pausing briefly by Neo Metal Sonic; abruptly, his creation turned towards him in a conversation that was too low for the prisoners to hear. Eggman delivered a swift pat to his prize creation's shoulder. Exiting the room, Celia and Roger clung to each other fearfully awaiting whatever horrible fate would soon befall them. The mention of the word robotcizier sent chills down their spines

"Under normal circumstances, I would've killed you as I did to your unit," Neo Metal Sonic said. "However, for now, I'll spare your lives, due to the high probability that both of you will become the first two Robians to serve in my army once that fat fool has rebuilt his Eggman Empire. I have other plans to ensure that my creator's Empire will never fall again, and the Master Emerald is the key to my plans."

Celia and Roger could only glance at each other in stunned silence at the robot hedgehog's confession before he stood next to the exit blocking their only escape and watching his creator departing the ship heading down to Angel Island, his optics flickering back to the second monitor focusing on the battle between Knuckles and Mecha Sonic.

The sight made Neo Metal clench his fingers upon seeing Knuckles score a direct hit on the robot's head forcing him away before breaking into a run. Mecha Sonic recovered from the blow pursued Knuckles, the three jackals joined in the pursuit.

"I'll prove to you that I'm the superior Metal Sonic."

* * *

The Egg Mobile continued it's descent from the Egg Fleet, rapidly descending to Angel Island, Eggman humming a cheerful tune underneath his breath sitting back in the rear of his vehicle piloting the Egg Mobile closer to Angel Island.

It didn't take long for the distant sounds of battle reached Eggman's ears. The mad dictator glanced down, spying a flash of red running for his life through the dense foilage pursed by Mecha Sonic and the three jackals.

"Uh, excuse me, boss, are you sure that it's wise leaving Neo Metal Sonic alone and in charge of the Egg Fleet?" Orbot asked.

"You worry too much Orbot, when I reprogrammed Metal Sonic, that rebellious streak was the first thing to go," Eggman answered Orbot's question impatiently. "Besides he's the least of my concerns for now at least. My main concern is acquiring the Master Emerald if any one of those three jackals fails me, they know what's going to happen to them."

Orbot said nothing hovering alongside his master continuing his descent towards the island.

Knuckles grunted, warding off Saber's strike, his fist colliding with the edge of the tomahawk knocking it out of Saber's hands. The brief distraction was more than enough to give Mecha enough time to grab Knuckles, landing a blow against the guardian's chest and sending him crashing down against the ground. Mecha Sonic's optics scanned the area locating the door leading down to Hidden Palace, and the robot seized his opportunity spinning at Super Sonic speeds towards the entrance to the Hidden Palace.

"Oh no, you don't! You're not getting to the Master Emerald again!", said Knuckles.

Knuckles broke into a run locking hands with Mecha Sonic, the thrust of the robot's engines pushed back against the guardian trying to force him to back down. Knuckles was able to loosen one fist driving into Mecha Sonic's face. The spurs sliced through metal followed by a stinging sensation due to severed wires dancing along Knuckles' fur leaving faint burn marks along with a stinging sensation of pain.

Mecha Sonic made a second charge, eager to end the guardian's life. Knuckles waited until the robot bore down on him before swiftly uppercutting the robot, the sharp spurs on his hands slicing through the metal surface severing wires. Mecha Sonic landed on the ground rubbing at his hand. Several small wires hung out of the right side of his jaw with sparks dancing along the surface. But the robot ignored the damage ascending into the air, before diving in a controlled descent plucking Knuckles off the ground like a hawk snatching its prey off the ground rising into the sky, ignoring the furious punches landing across his hull.

"Let me go!" Shouted Knuckles.

Knuckles' world spun around in a terrifying instant having been flung into the air by Mecha Sonic. Before Knuckles had a chance to recover from the unexpected attack Metal Sonic unleashed several kicks on Knuckles finding their mark on the guardian's stomach before gravity took hold of Knuckles causing him to crash into the earth sending up small fragments of grass and debris. Knuckles fought against a pounding headache forming in his skull. A pair of footsteps ran through the green ground, several smaller knives embedded in the soil forcing Knuckles to avoid Quartz's attack, followed by the jackal's cursing at having missed his strike.

"Damn it!" Quartz said. "Hold still so I can kill you!"

Knuckles felt his gaze zeroing in on Quartz's right arm, the cold steel metal a stark contrast to his ebony black fur. A wild, crazed look was in his eyes his tail swishing from side to side kicking up the dirt. Quartz grimaced silently exposing his metallic arm in a gesture of defiance.

"Eggman roboticized it didn't he?"

"Heh, perhaps you're not blind after all," Quartz chuckled. "It's nothing personal guardian; it's just business."

Saber tackled Knuckles to the ground, raising his tomahawk, only to receive a blow to his jaw, Knuckles' sharp spurs slicing through soft fur underneath his jaw. On the second punch, the Spurs on Knuckles' hand sliced through the fur on Saber's shoulder causing a pained scream from the jackal who dropped his tomahawk, clutching at his shoulder, the sticky blood racing down his shoulder in a slick torrent.

Knuckles hurried down the steps of the chamber his breath coming out in short gasps He glimpsed a flash of blue opening the doors to the Hidden Palace, and raced towards the giant green emerald.

Mecha Sonic ignored the cracked Super Emeralds landing on the surface of the green emerald, drawing on the power of Chaos energy flooding into his power cells glowing an eerie gold ascending off the green emerald.

"No, not again," Knuckles whispered in horror as Super Mecha Sonic approached.

Super Mecha Sonic wasted no time launching his attack on Knuckles; his blows struck Knuckles so fast that the robot gripped Knuckles tightly by the ankle, throwing him against the wall against one of the pedestals housing the Super Emeralds sharp crystals which rained down around him.

Knuckles instinctively protected his head, noticing to his relief the golden glow fading away from Mecha Sonic and turning him blue, but his relief was short-lived as Mecha made another grab for the hedgehog dragging hin along the smooth floor, heading up the corridor steps before Knuckles' torment ended being flung to the ground.

Knuckles winced feeling several kunai piercing his shoulder slicing through fur and skin. Saber pressed two fingers to his Phantom Ruby shard summoning several illusionary daggers thrown by a furious Nephthys, a fierce scowl contorting her face. A rush of engines announced Mecha Sonic was running back down the steps to them Hidden Palace, no doubt to draw on even more power from the giant green emerald hidden in the depths of the island.

"No one messes with the Jackal Squad!" Nephthys screamed at Knuckles. "You'll pay for that, you bastard!"

Gasping for air, feeling the first wave of dizziness hit him, Knuckles staggered to his feet unaware of a shadow falling over him; the guardian jerked his head aware he was bleeding from several lacerations on his body. He glowered at the sight of the Egg Mobile descending glaring weakly at Eggman walking towards him holding up a hand. Spying another flash of gold, Super Mecha Sonic tore across the ground knocking the echinda into the air and landing several blows, despite Knuckles' efforts to fight back.

After another round of beating, Knuckles stood up, ignoring the pain from his cuts, and facing Mecha Sonic defiantly. The guardian stood up facing Mecha Sonic the gold fading away from his quills and turning cobalt blue, giving Knuckles an opportunity to strike, hearing the satisfying clang his spurs made with Mecha Sonic's face sending him crashing to the ground. Sensing his opponent was down for the moment Knuckles turned to face a beaming Eggman.

"Get off my island now," said Knuckles.

"It's all part of my plan to reconquer Mobius of course!" Eggman exclaimed gleefully. "With the power of the Master Emerald fuelling my robot army, in a matter of days, my robot army will reconquer all of the towns wiping out every single member of your precious Resistance, soon all of Mobius will be mine once again."

"You won't win," Knuckles said hoarsely. "The Resistance and I will find a way to stop you."

"I'd never thought you were the type for blind optimism, you gullible idiot," Eggman said mockingly. "Neo Metal Sonic put an end to Knuckles once and for all."

"With pleasure," Neo Metal Sonic replied. "I'll make his execution swift and painful; then his dead body will be used as an example to those who would dare to cross the might of the Eggman Empire."

Knuckles wanted to scream in frustration at the unfair situation; he looked down at his arm barely able to see the crimson blood flowing from multiple cuts down his arms, he was exhausted both physically and mentally. In that instant, Knuckles knew he wasn't going to win this fight, it pained him deeply, seeing Neo Metal Sonic rushing towards him.

I can't abandon my duties again. But if I continue to fight, then I'll be killed. The guardian realized with horror. I hate to admit it, but with the Jackal Squad, Neo, Mecha Sonic, and Eggman here on my island, I can't fight back alone.

Neo Metal Sonic drove his foot into Knuckles' chest interrupting Knuckle's ruminations. Neo Metal Sonic dug his robotic digits through fur and skin. In desperation the echinda landed a punch into his arms, his sharp spurs cutting through steel and forcing him to let go the guardian.

Seizing his chance to escape Knuckles sprinted away from Neo making a mad dash for the edge of the island somehow finding the strength to go into a glide casting one last glance at both of Eggman's creations glaring in his direction, both of them were preparing to pursue him.

Knuckles fully expected both robots to pursue him and kill him sending his lifeless body crashing to the ocean's surface leaving into sink through the greenish blue waters, the guardian wouldn't allow himself to die, somehow finding the strength to keep gliding determined not to let himself die.

"Neo and Mecha Sonic, let him go!" Eggman called out. "We have much more important things to worry about for now."

"Master, with all due respect, if he escapes he'll bring the rest of the Resistance back with him," Neo Metal Sonic protested Eggman's order. "Another one of your plans will fail when Sonic gets word of what happened here."

"No, in his state, Knuckles will be dead by the time word reaches Sonic," Eggman said in a bored tone. "Besides, we need time to set up base here on Angel Island. I'll be examining that lovely green emerald later, for now, though I have to thank our jackal allies for lending us their assistance."

Eggman cackled in glee, rubbing his hands in excitement with Neo Metal Sonic following his creator's every steps barely even glancing over at Quartz and Nephthys bandaging Saber's injuries, Orbot hovering nearby providing fresh bandages replacing the old ones saturated with Saber's blood.

Saber lay on his back quietly groaning in pain, his left shoulder wrapped in new bandages. Neither Quartz nor Nephthys spoke. The two jackals instead chose to whisper words of comfort to Saber, hearing the heavy tread of the rotund figure's footsteps approaching them.

"I'm so sorry for your injuries Saber," Eggman said insincerely. "In honor of helping the Eggman Empire regain its former glory, I will grant you three full control controls over Shamar, and I hear that place does need a new leader. Think of it as a reward for your undying loyalty to my cause, and you're off the potential Robian list."

"What about my arm?" Quartz asked bitterly. "Isn't there a way for you to reverse the process?"

"If you don't like your arm in its current state, I can always subject you to the full robotomy treatment if that's your desire," Eggman said. "I could also do the same thing to your comrades as well."

None of the jackals wisely chose to say anything to the threat with Saber staring down at his injuries. Quartz said nothing sitting down his tail thudding in anger at the predicament all three jackals faced. Nephthys gently squeezed Saber's hand in a reassuring gesture, hearing Eggman calling to both robotic hedgehogs and leaving the jackals to reflect on their current situation silently.

"Your performance was amazing Mecha Sonic!" Eggman wasted no time in praising Mecha Sonic. "Hmm, despite the adjustments I made you're still having trouble containing the raw energy of the Master Emerald within your power cells, no matter with both you and Neo Metal Sonic fighting alongside each other the rebirth of the Eggman Empire will be glorious!"

Neo Metal Sonic remained silent walking on his master's left side, observing a small group of Eggpawns lowering a long cannon shaped object wrapped up in a white blanket with Eggman resting a hand on the cannon lovingly the sinister smile never leaving his face pulling back the cover revealing a long grey slim cannon.

The deadly weapons had a striking resemblance to the Eclipse Cannon. More Egg Pawns descended from the skies carrying several more cannons scattering them all over the island.

"Soon Mobius will be subjected to my rule once more," Eggman said menacingly fighting back a chuckle. "Mecha Sonic, I need you to head to Sunset Heights and launch an attack on the Resistance, wipe all of them out. I believe you can do that can't you?"

Mecha Sonic nodded ascending into the air departing Angel Island a blue streak heading eastwards heading off in the direction of Sunset Heights. Satisfied for the moment, Eggman noticed Neo Metal Sonics gaze tracking Mecha Sonic's every movement his fist clenching ever so slightly.

"Master, with all due respect I should be the one to finish off the Resistance," Neo Metal Sonic protested."I'm the most superior of your creations, and I'll bring back Infinite this time."

"No, you've had your chance, and it cost me a Chaos Emerald," Eggman said his tone sounded sullen. "Besides I need you here to help make Angel Island feel homely. I think a giant statue of me near the shrine will do for starters."

Neo Metal Sonic wisely chose not to respond glancing back at the ripped off doors lying on the ground. The robot walked back noticing Cubot hastily give him a salute hearing his creator's shout for him to hurry up. Neo Metal Sonic briefly glanced at the cannons resting on the ground, his processor began to put together a plan, and when the time was right, he would strike.

"Yes, the Eggman Empire will rise once more," Neo Metal Sonic muttered quietly. "But it won't be your empire master, soon every organic being will kneel to me. In no time at all of Mobius will be under my control."

* * *

The waves lapped up against the shores of Station Square, to Knuckles having been forced to glide for several hours had been a test of endurance and seeing the sandy beach coming into sight the echidna allowed himself to descend out of the glide his energy spent coming to rest on the hard surface of the sand.

For several minutes, the guardian lay still his heart hammering away in his chest, blood leaking out from his injuries blending in with his crimson fur, Knuckles' heartbeat in his chest his mind blank by the terrifying reality.

"Eggman has both Angel Island and the Master Emerald," Knuckles said hoarsely. "Eggman's finally put his plan into action, I need to let Sonic and the others know about what's going on now."

The Guardian knew he had to get off the sand. Fleeing Angel Island was the last thing he wanted to do, but coming to the half-destroyed city was the last thing he wanted to do he couldn't just impose on the citizens for aid when they were struggling to survive with meager rations, a lack of power.

The end result of the war was a grim reality which was even worse than the aftermath of Perfect Chaos' attack which left three-quarters of the population dead, most of them being woman and children.

"Wait a minute isn't that Commander Knuckles of the Resistance?"

The echidna's plight hadn't gone unnoticed a small crowd of early morning beach-goers paused allowing a black dog, and a cream-furred cat hurrying over to where Knuckles lay helping the guardian to his feet. Knuckles uttered a weak protest trying to wave them off he could stand on his own the cat and dog refused to let him gently leading him off the beach his arms slung across their shoulders.

"Sir, what happened to you?" The dog asked anxiously.

"Eggman has taken over Angel Island," Knuckles replied."The situation's already bad since he plans to use the power of the Master Emerald to rebuild the Eggman Empie. He's also rebuilt one of his previous creations, I'm sorry, I tried to hold of Mecha Sonic, and the three renegade jackals, but I've failed in protecting all of you."

Screams of panic broke out in the crowd a few Mobians fled from the scene to spread the news several more Mobains near the entrance to the beach soon found out what occurred on Angel Island and how the giant green emerald was now in Eggman's possession.

"We're all going to die!" A russet-furred wolf cried out in pure fear.

"How can that Knucklehead allow Eggman to take over Angel Island?" A purple bear demanded. "We're all going to die!"

Despite the commotion caused by the panicking citizens, Knuckles was half carried by the cat and dog walking towards, a pair of foxes hurried forward moving a stretcher between them setting it carefully down on the sand, the echidna lay on the gurney feeling it being lifted the pair of foxes walked across the sands hurrying towards a makeshift shelter.

The echidna tried his best to ignore the stab of pain coming from a laceration in his leg. Knuckles was lifted onto the stretcher lying on his back a question forming on his lips.

"There's a resistance outpost here right?" Knuckles asked.

"There, is but you need to rest, Sir," The dog said anxiously. "You're in no condition to travel all the way to Sunset Heights. We can send a message to let Commander Silver about what's happened on Angel Island. We're going to take you to our refugee shelter. Your wounds need treatment to make sure they're not infected."

Knuckles nodded numbly coming to the harsh realization he'd failed in his duty once more. The Master Emerald once more was in Eggman's hands and if they were unlucky enough in a matter of days, no hours Eggman would be able to reconquer Mobius threating the lives of all the citizens that called the planet their home, allowing the evil mastermind to regain control of Mobius. Knuckles lay back on the stretcher listening to the screams of panic, and the current situation was already sowing seeds of fear amongst the residents.

Knuckles was beaten, mentally and physically weak, but his mind was already forming as to fight back while still lying on the stretcher. He didn't know the outcome of his plan, desperately holding onto a small fragment of hope no more innocent lives would be lost during his planning.

I along with the Resistance will reclaim Angel Island Knuckles vowed to himself. He was determined to make up for his inability to protect the Master Emerald, he would meet up with the rest of the Resistance, and even though he wasn't sure how they would find a way to take back Angel Island, one way or another he along with the Resistance would find a way to reclaim his home.

* * *

Author's _note This chapter gave me a bit of trouble, mostly due to me wanting to set up a couple of plot points coming up within the next few chapters._

 _I'm well aware having Knuckles flee Angel Island may come off as a little OOC since Knuckles made the decision very reluctantly to evacuate Angel Island since he knew it was a fight he wouldn't win._ _It was never my intention to make Knuckles look weak since I'm pretty sure he can hold his own and triumph in a fight, even against powerful opponents._

 _One of my favorite qualities about Knuckles is his determination, at the moment Knuckles is aware that he failed in his duty, Knuckles is not going to let that guilt weigh him down since he's already forming a plan to meet with the Resistance to help him reclaim Angel Island._

 _Even though Eggman has control over Angel Island, Neo Metal Sonic has his agenda which will slowly be coming into play soon. The scene with Eggman attacking the Resistance fleet was a scene I've had in mind ever since writing the draft for this chapter it presented me an opportunity to have the Resistance forces being shot down by the Egg Fleet mainly to show of the Egg Fleet's power._

 _The two Resistance pilots are still alive since in Eggman's own words he wants an audience to witness Knuckles' defeat. After Neo Metal Sonic left the main ship, they were placed in the custody of a pair of Egg Pawns, and are now working on constructing Eggman's base of operations on Angel Island._ _The battle between Knuckles and Mecha Sonic is something I've planned out ever since writing out the draft for this stage since it felt like the right time to put it in. Knuckles was reluctant to leave Angel Island, but due to his injuries, he fled to save his life._

 _Mecha Sonic's boss fight is one of my favorite boss fights in Sonic three and Knuckles so I couldn't pass up the chance to have Knuckles engaging Super Mecha Sonic, even though it didn't end so well for Knuckles. Eggman will be making some adjustments to Mecha Sonic to help further his goals._

 _As per usual thoughts/ constructive criticism and reviews are welcomed and appreciated as always, and this fic is going to be going on a brief hiatus this week due to it being Thanksgiving since I will be celebrating Thanksgiving with my family. I want to wish everyone here a happy Thanksgiving, and the next chapter will be coming soon._


	39. A tense reunion

_Author's note I can't believe its December already, time does fly when you're having fun writing up a story. I'm well aware this story is far from perfect, but I do want to take the time to thank for those who helped this story reach both over sixty favorites, fifty-four follows, and with over 325 reviews I never thought this story would become this popular thank you all so much._

Also for the lovely people who are studying for your exam finals, I wish you the best of luck for them.

 _As always I would like to say thank you to TGN, SD321, Yamichaos 27, SharpDragonKlaw, bajy, Alexandria Prime, anonymous, Turquoise Triangle and Keyblade Writer of the Dawn for reviewing._

 _Shoutouts and thank yous go out to_ Blacklouie, Patroitpride 3 _, Gamerman20, and_ Starsing _1 for_ favoriting _and following this story._

 _A thank you goes out to Zoggerific for helping me with this chapter, they also deserve some of the credit for helping me out with this_ story _._

Disclaimer _I do not own Sonic. If I did then Sonic Forces would've turned out to be very different_.

* * *

Night had settled over the ruins of Sunset Heights like a thick dark blanket. The air was silent, punctuated only by the sounds of construction work from devoted work teams. To the average citizen, the war was over and now was the time to rebuild. None of the slumbering citizens were yet aware of the troubled storm clouds that were steadily drifting their way from Angel Island.

Deep within the Resistance base, a faint clanging jolted Sonic from an uneasy slumber. The weary hedgehog found himself staring through blurry eyes on the digital readout of the clock which read 1:30 AM. He soon realized he wasn't the only one disturbed by the commotion. Elsewhere, he heard his fellow Mobians tossing and turning.

"That's probably Tails, still working on the machine to reverse the roboticization process," Sonic muttered to himself. "He's been working hard on that thing for the last three nights. He won't even sleep."

Sonic pushed himself out of his bed glancing over at the rest of the Mobians who had settled upon their beds pulling their pillows over their heads and sinking into an uneasy slumber. The clanging stopped, and Sonic's surroundings became peaceful and quiet once more, for now, everyone was safe. Well, they were safe until Eggman unleashed his new plan. Sonic paused to reflect on the fact it had been three days they'd reluctantly take Zerinn into custody. Sonic's thoughts wandered to Gadget: things between him and Mikhail had been, to put it mildly, more than a little tense.

Sonic quietly left the room and wandered down the hallway towards the small makeshift lab Tails called home. His travels took him past Zerinn's cell where Chaser and Sahara looking half-asleep stood guard. Sonic observed the jackal. In the three days since his capture, the jackal had gained a little weight; he was coughing less, and his fur was no longer dirty. Sonic noted to his considerable satisfaction that Zerinn's hands and ankles were still restrained and only twitched slightly in his slumber.

Sonic clenched his fist memories rushing back to him of his torture, Infinite passing by his cell everyday tormenting him with illusions of his friends dying, following Eggman's commands taking in sadistic glee at Sonic's suffering.

"Ah, Sonic, you don't have to worry about Infinite," Chaser said noticing Sonic's unease."He's not going to hurt you. If he tries anything, a quick blast with our Wispons is usually enough to get him to stop."

"Keep up the good work," Sonic replied uneasily. "If Zerinn tries to attack you, and if you don't have your Wispon on you, don't hesitate to call for help."

Upon hearing the guards reassurances, Sonic hurried over to the lab. He stood for a moment to admire the massive cylindrical machine in the middle of the room.

Tails was leaning over the console, his eyes heavy with lack of sleep. At his feet were several blueprints, Tails gripped his pencil tightly in between his fingers as he wrote furiously.

"Hey, Tails?"

The young fox quickly pivoted on his heel surprised to hearing Sonic and saw a worried expression creasing Sonic's face. Tails felt a small stab of guilt of staying up so late for the third night in a row. The slight frown on Sonic's face spoke volumes of his disapproval.

"I know you're anxious in getting the deroboticizier up and running as soon as possible," Sonic said eying the heavy bags under the young fox's eyes "But Buddy, you've gotta get some rest. These last three days, you've barely scraped five hours of rest together. Have you been having nightmares?"

Tails looked back at Sonic and found himself being unable to stop the tears slipping down the young fox's face his shoulders trembling with emotion before he flung himself off his stool drawing Sonic into a tight embrace his whole body shook with unshed tears.

"I'm still having nightmares about your capture," Tails admitted hoarsely. "The night after you were defeated, I had countless nightmares of you dying, of Eggman subjecting you to the worst kind of tortures involving Eggman cutting you in half with his machines, with a sinister smile on his face. Then he would broadcast your death while showing pictures of your mutilated body all over Mobius while gloating about it!"

Sonic paused not sure how to respond to Tails' emotional breakdown but settled upon a simple embrace to and letting the fox sobbing on his shoulder.

"I have nightmares too," Sonic admitted. "Eggman inflicted all kinds of emotional torture on me. Inf- I mean Zerinn used the power of the Phantom Ruby to make me see illusions of you, Knux, Amy, the Chaotix, and Team Dark lying dead in the streets. He starved me in the last month before you guys came to my rescue. Tails, I witnessed a lot of unspeakable horrors during my time as a prisoner on the Death Egg."

"Sonic, promise me you won't do anything that reckless ever again," Tails said hoarsely. "I was so scared for you. You should've seen Amy when she and everyone else heard of your capture. She practically cried in her sleep when she first joined the Resistance. Can you promise to be more careful in the future for our friend's sake?"

"I'm sorry for putting, you and everyone else through this buddy," Sonic said in a gentle tone of voice. "We will stop whatever Eggman's planning next, and I'm not going to let that monster hurt you ever again buddy. We both need to get some sleep."

Tails rose up from the chair and slung an arm around Sonic's shoulder. The two of them walking together side by side into the sleeping quarters of the main resistance base.

Sonic helped Tails to bed and draped the blanket over him only to find the fox snoring softly. Sonic crawled back into the bed his head resting against the hard pillow.

 _We'll find a way to stop old Eggface's plan. I don't know how but we will._ Sonic vowed quietly to himself.

With that promise made, Sonic heard Tails softly snoring, reassuring Sonic that his adopted younger brother had settled into a nightmare-free slumber. Sonic settled into his bed, closing his eyes and tried to ignore the nagging sensation none of them would be safe for long.

* * *

The warm morning light caused Gadget to stir from a restful sleep. Gadget stifled a yawn and reached for his glasses. He found Sonic and Tails already fast asleep while Mikhail's bed was already empty to his considerable dismay. Gadget shook his head, fully aware he needed to speak with Mikhail at some point about Zerinn.

Pins and needles erupted throughout Gadget's body. If Gadget could name one thing he couldn't stand about the makeshift beds, it was the itchy bed sheets. He was all too eager to get out of bed. The second Gadget's feet touched the floor; he felt someone shaking his shoulder roughly.

He spun around and found himself making eye contact with Chaser, who eyed up the healing burn scars on Gadget's back with an unreadable expression. "It's time for Kaito and you to guard Zerinn's cell," Chaser reminded Gadget.

Kaito's bed was also empty the only thing indicating the young jackal was already awake already preparing for the day ahead of him. Sahara entered the room stifling a yawn her mane usually spotless looked greasy from the maned wolf being unable to wash her hair.

"I'm still against the decision to keep Infinite alive," Sahara said hotly running a hand through her mane "Its true Gadget a lot of Mobians myself included would prefer if your former friend died in the war after all the killing he's doing while fighting alongside Eggman. We can't afford to waste food on him since we're almost out of supplies. Furthermore, since the generator at the Sunset Heights Hospital shut down this morning, every patient who is either in a coma or life support is dead."

Gadget felt numb at the term 'dead.' Gadget knew Sahara was one of the most hardworking members of the resistance, and to have received the news, so many more people had died must surely have been devastating. Gadget could only imagine the grief some of the other Resistance members were going through having lost loved ones to another tragedy.

Gadget hurried down the hallway to the prison cell voices drifting on the wind; Gadget recognized Kaito's voice speaking in low tones to someone. The wolf turned a corner noticing Kaito already crouching down holding onto a small tray of food speaking in low tones with Zerinn. Kaito cautiously pushed up on the metal slot at the bottom of the cell door allowing him to slide the ration consisting of bland, tasteless sandwiches. Through to his brother who bit into them savoring his mouthful of food until he swallowed making eye contact with Kaito.

"I thought you've already disowned me," Zerinn growled. "I don't need anyone's damn sympathy. Gadget should've finished me off when he found me lying on the trash bags in Park Avenue, what his problem is he's too soft-hearted to go for the kill. It's almost ironic I've killed thousands of Mobians. I know to say sorry isn't going to fix everything magically, it's far too late for things to change."

"I know it's far too late for things to change," Kaito replied sadly. "I still can't forgive you for siding with Eggman, bringing Mobius to ruin and killing thousands of innocent Mobians who had nothing to do with Shadow killing the other members of our squad. But you're still my half-brother."

Kaito made a low noise of sympathy pressing a hand against the bars seeing Zerinn wrap his fingers through the bars around his younger half brother's hand. Zerinn gave a pointed glare at Gadget; the gesture wasn't as intimidating without the jackal's mask on his face.

"The main reason as to why we had a falling out is because you thought I was too weak," Gadget growled. "You knew my friends were innocent and you killed them because you were jealous I chose them over you!"

Silence hung in the air after Gadget's outburst.

"Gadget, half of my squad is dead," Zerinn replied hoarsely. "You didn't grow up like Kaito, and I did. We were pushed to be the best and not show weakness. I trained myself to become the strongest mercenary, to prove everyone in this boring world wrong. If you don't have anything else to say, then there's no point in talking about it any further."

Footsteps echoed off the cobblestones, hearing a low cough, neither Gadget or Kaito turned around to face Vector glowering at them his arms folded across his chest, Espio watching them silently with a disapproving expression on his face with Charmy and Mikhail at his side.

"You two are supposed to be guarding Zerinn!" Vector retorted. "Commander Silver doesn't need any more stress since he's been trying to find out what Eggman's newest plan is, and on top of that we need to assign a team to bury the dead Mobains who died this morning."

Mikhail approached the jackal; his lips curled up into a fierce scowl. Zerinn noticed the gesture of aggression bearing his teeth his tail thudding against the floor glaring pointedly at Mikhail leaving the group, turning his head taking in the sight of Gadget's anxious expression, for a few moments Gadget met Mikhail's eyes, with Charmy flying over to Mikhail trying to cheer him up.

"Hey, Mikhail, do you want to hear a-"

"Not now Charmy," Mikhail turned a fierce glare towards the bee. "Can't you see I've got training to do?" Charmy's further attempts to cheer him up were met by Mikhail who stormed down the corridor heading to the mess hall undoubtedly to grab some breakfast before heading to the training hall.

"I don't care what Mikhail thinks," Zerinn growled. "I'm not even going to beg for anyone's forgiveness. All of you don't have the guts to kill me when I'm half dead, and we-"

Zerinn's sentence was interrupted by several sirens going off all over the base; several Resistance members looked up alarmed. Gadget felt tendrils of dread coiling around his stomach. He watched as Tails and Sonic raced into the hallway.

Overhead, Silver's nervous voice crackled over the intercom "Everyone, get to the meeting room now! I received a message from one of our soldiers in Station Square, Knuckles was found injured on Station Square's shores yesterday morning, and he says Eggman's taken over Angel Island."

Every member of the Resistance felt an inexplicable chill racing down their spines upon hearing the unwelcome news. The small group began walking towards the meeting room. Sonic and Tails joined by Sonic and Tails hurrying towards the meeting room an aura of anxiety hung over the whole Resistance their words fears upon hearing the news of Eggman's return and subsequent takeover of Angel Island.

Gadget and Kaito paused to glance back at Zerinn seething with fury at the mention of Eggman's name, despite his restraints the jackal pushed himself up of the floor resting a hand on the cell door to balance himself.

"Who's going to guard Infinite if we all go?" Charmy asked. "If he steps out of line, I'll sting him into submission, like I did at Spaceport!"

"I hate to admit it, but we'll have to take him with us," Vector said reluctantly. "Besides if he tries to do anything we'll be ready for him, and it should reassure the others he's under our constant watch."

Gadget and Kaito heard Vector dragging Zerinn from his cell before being passed over to Gadget and Kaito grabbed Zerinn's arms forcing him to walk with them.

With Zerinn in tow, the small group hurried over to the meeting room where everyone gathered in the room including Sonic, Tails, Silver, Chaser, Sahara and Mikhail. Everyone turned to fiercely glare at the jackal who half-heartedly glared back, tapping the fragment of his shattered ruby on his chest as a silent warning.

"Stop that Infinite, may I remind you that you're our prisoner?" Sahara asked.

Zerinn parted his lips to retort when Eggman's image flickered onto all of the monitors in the Resistance base. Several Mobians who had been former prisoners on the Death Egg shrank back in fear upon seeing their tormentor's sadistic smile.

"Greetings, citizens of Mobius!" Eggman proclaimed, throwing out his arms wide for emphasis. "I believe all of you thought at the end of the war, I was lost forever to the depths of Null Space, but I was able to escape the confines of Null Space barely, and I will rebuild my empire from the ground up, resisting the rebirth of the empire. If you don't believe me, three days ago, my forces have successfully conquered Angel Island, if you don't believe me, feel free to take a look!"

Eggman's image appeared on the screen but what concerned the heroes, even more, were the live camera feeds that lay behind him: Angel Island in all of its conquered glory. Sections of the island covered in metallic plates with cannons perched at the edge of the island, Badniks patrolled all over the island. All over Mobius, the same images appeared on the few TVs and computers which maintained power for public broadcasts.

"I have a little present for the Resistance," Eggman said chuckling as Mecha Sonic came barrelling down through the roof in a shower of wood, bricks, and dust. Mecha Sonic wasted no time in fighting back against the Chaotix who chose to attack the robot on sight Sonic and Tails froze in shock upon recognizing the robotic hedgehog they'd encountered years ago in the Sky Sanctuary during their first trip to Angel Island.

"Sonic isn't that the hedgehog robot we fought in Sky Sanctuary?" Tails asked.

"It is Tails," Sonic replied grimly. "I guess Eggman finally pooled his resources together to rebuild it."

Suddenly a flash of metallic blue shot throughout the Resistance building shouldering both Gadget and Kaito aside grabbing Zeriin tightly holding the struggling jackal to his chest hovering into the air dashing the entrance Zerinn cursing all the while. Sonic raced outside followed by Tails, Gadget, Mikhail, Kaito, Silver, and Amy pursing the robotic hedgehog.

Silver flung out his hands picking up several pieces of debris throwing them, at Mecha Sonic tightened his grip on Zerinn, ignoring the jackal's frantic struggles to break free, trying to draw on the power of his ruby sending a couple of small laser blasts aimed at Mecha Sonic blowing off one of the robotic hedgehog's legs.

Silver seized his chance using his powers to tug at Mecha Sonic's left hand with his ability wrenching it off amidst a shower of sparks. Through the skies landing on the ground sending up fragments of pavement, along with a thick cloud of smoke. Sonic shielded his eyes from the dust Mecha Sonic kicked up from the force of the impact setting Zerinn briefly down on the ground.

Tails quickly lashed out at Mecha Sonic lashed out with his tails only to have the appendages grabbed by Mecha Sonic holding Tails up in the air before driving one of his metallic feet into the fox's chest.

The force of the blow sent Tails crashing down hard the ground bouncing along the hard cobblestones before skidding to a stop. Without any hesitation, Amy wrapped her fingers around her Piko Piko Hammer sprinting towards Mecha Sonic.

"Take this you metal creep!" Amy cried out swinging her Piko Piko Hammer at the back of Mecha Sonic's head.

The robot's electronic reflexes enabled it to pivot on its foot and grab Amy 's hammer, redirecting her momentum to the side throwing Amy into the air until gravity took hold of her causing Amy to land hard on her right side wincing from the pain of the impact with the hard ground. Having dealt with the rest of the Resistance Mecha Sonic despite having one hand dashed over to Zerinn awkwardly grabbing the jackal ascending into the sky rapidly becoming a small blue dot against the early morning sky.

"Amy! Are you all right?!" Sonic asked helping Amy to her feet.

"I'm fine Sonic," Amy replied wincing. "Zerinn on the other hand, he'll soon be back in Eggman's clutches."

"Zerinn!" Kaito having recovered from his beating raced after Mecha Sonic throwing his dagger in a failed attempt to strike the robot, Gadget and Mikhail weren't too far behind him. The red wolf fired of his grappling hook hoping for the tip to at least snag the tip of Zerinn's boot only to watch it falls short of its target. Gadget hurried over to comfort his adoptive brother drawing him into a gentle hug, Mikhail embraced Kaito as well.

"We'll get him back Kaito," Gadget said firmly placing an arm around Kaito's shoulder. "At least there's no way he would willingly work for Eggman again after betraying him."

"Hopefully alive," Mikhail said. "I still can't bring myself to forgive him for his crimes, but I know what it's like to almost lose a half-brother."

Sonic looked over at the terrified citizens huddling together whispering in low tones; Sonic noticed a family consisting of dogs hugging their crying children close to them whispering hopeful reassurances that they were going to be okay, the Resistance would find a way to stop Eggman's plan. Sonic glanced over at Silver silently surveying the scene unsure what to say until he clenched his fists in determination.

"We're going to liberate Angel Island, from Eggman's clutches," Silver declared. "Amy, I'll need you to send a request to Commander Tower for any forces G.U.N can offer, Team Dark included, I will admit, we've got no choice, we'll have to bring the Chaos Emeralds as well."

"I know this is going to be a dangerous mission so I want everyone well rested, we're going to head to Station Square first to retrieve Knuckles since he knows Angel Island's layout the best. We'll be departing tonight, so I want everyone to get ready for this mission."

The assembled Resistance members broke apart with Sonic taking the chance to approach Silver with a small smile on his face.

"That's a great speech you came up with," Sonic praised Silver. "I couldn't have said it better myself. We're not going to let Eggman win again, and reduce this world to ruin."

"Thanks, when all of this is over, you know I have to return to my future," Silver said softly. "When I first came here, I was amazed by how beautiful this world is, and I hope Mobius can regain its former beauty."

"Yeah, we're all going to miss you when you head back to your time," Sonic replied. "Besides I promise we will do everything we can to restore Mobius to its beauty, even if it takes years to do so."

Silver nodded, and the two hedgehogs hurried back to the Resistance base bunker holding onto the small hope; they would be able to prevail once more against the ever-looming threat of the Eggman Empire.

* * *

Eggman walked throughout his base of operations deep within the Hidden Palace Zone, one hand stroking the Master Emerald's surface while in the other he held the shards of the Phantom Ruby. Sitting on a table behind him were the two other Chaos Emeralds which gleamed faintly on the table.

Hearing the hum of Mecha Sonic's engines announced his creation's arrival was holding tightly onto Zerinn. Zerinn leveled a glare so fierce at Eggman the man took a step back. Eggman grinned taking in the sight of his former partner being clutched tightly by Mecha Sonic his ankles and wrists restrained glowering at Eggman his tail thudded twice in agitation.

"When you die, I hope you rot in the deepest parts of hell you fat bastard," Zerinn spat. "I'd rather die than have the ruby taken from me. It's bonded to me now, so you can't remove it, even if you tried."

"Is that so?" Eggman asked grinning. "Well, Zerinn, I still have a use for you. One that I think will be apt punishment for your defection. You see, the original Phantom Ruby shattered in the final battle against the Resistance. So I need you to perform one last task with the rest of your former squad mates. After everything you've put them through, I'm sure they'll be happy to see you."

Zerinn went pale at Eggman's words and made not a word of protest as Mecha Sonic wrapped his metal claws around Zerinn's arm tugging him away from Eggman escorting Zerinn of to a pair of Egg pawns which seemed to materialize from the shadows. As one, their clawed hands clamped around Zerinn's wrists as they escorted the jackal to his uncertain fate.

Eggman smiled widely at the sight of one prize acquired and turned his attention back to the giant green emerald at his fingers tips. As the lenses on his goggles glowed green, he grinned madly.

* * *

 _Author's note When I was writing up this chapter it was on the day of the 26th anniversary to Sonic the Hedgehog 2. It's a game that means a lot to me since it was the very first Sonic game I played so I had to write in a moment showcasing Sonic's and Tails' bond with each other. Even though he didn't show it, Tails was deeply affected by Sonic's capture which led to him suffering from nightmares as a result._

 _It was always planned for Eggman to capture Zerinn since he once more has the power of the Phantom Ruby in his possession, for now, things appear to be in Eggman's favor which he has big things in store, he has plans to remove Zerinn's ruby along with an unwelcome reunion when Zerinn reencounters his squad, once more._

 _The reason Eggman didn't send Neo Metal Sonic to attack the Resistance is that due to fearing Neo Metal Sonic would disobey his orders again by taking another Chaos Emerald with him and possibly losing it to the Resistance. It was for this reason alone he sent Mecha Sonic to retrieve Zerinn. Neo Metal Sonic is going to be acting on his plans soon, for the moment he's biding his time._

 _As per usual constructive criticism /any accidental errors I need to go back and fix/thoughts and reviews are welcomed and appreciated. Have a Merry Christmas everyone, and I will talk to you guys soon with the next chapter._


	40. Operation take back Angel Island

_Author's note I have to apologize for the long delay with this fic. I was busy preparing for a trip overseas to spend Christmas with family along with helping them get ready for New Year's Eve. I'm back now, and hopefully no more long delays, I have no intentions of ever abandoning this fic._

 _Special thanks to The Sensational SpiderDom321 for helping me out with this chapter. He was a great help in the editing process by pointing out the mistakes I made with this chapter. Please do check out his stories Awakened and Queen Bee's Special Task since both fics are a fantastic read, and he is a skilled writer._

 _A shout out and thank you go to SwidKawaii16 for leaving a favorite. I genuinely appreciate the support._

 _For everyone who took the time to leave reviews, clicking the favorite/ follow button or by even viewing this fic, thank you all so much for the support. We're coming to the end of this story, and it wouldn't be this successful without your support. I also want to wish everyone a Happy New Year to everyone._

 _Special thanks go to TGN, SD321, Alexandria Prime, Annomoyous, bajy, SharpDragonKlaw, Yami Chaos 27, Turquoise Triangle, Keyblade Writer of the Dawn and Black Twilight Wolf for reviewing and continuing to show your support for this story._

 _Disclaimer I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog and I never will since it belongs to Sega_.

* * *

Being forced to head down a long tunnel and sandwiched between a pair of robots wasn't Zerinn's idea of a good time. The jackal briefly glanced up at the crystals embedded in the ceiling, illuminating the dark tunnel descending into the mythical Hidden Palace Zone. The jackal's wrists were still restrained, but his feet were free allowing him to walk down the steps with ease lessening the risk of Zerinn tumbling down the stairs which could break his neck in the process. The jackal was fully aware of the cold steel blaster pressed against the back of his skull.

The jackal longed to fight back, feeling an urge to rip Eggman's machines to pieces with his bare hands, along with experiencing the satisfaction of seeing the look of horror on his former employer's face, witnessing his precious robots torn to scraps in front of him. The second pair of footsteps echoed off the steps jolted the jackal out of his thoughts, Zerinn turning his head, almost stumbling seeing a flash of silvery digits reaching out for the jackal's dreadlocks holding him in place ignoring Zerinn's gasp of pain.

"I'll escort the jackal to the lab within the Hidden Palace Zone," Neo Metal Sonic informed the Egg Pawns. "Unless it's your wish for me to reduce all of you into piles of scrap metal, I order all of you to stand aside."

The Egg Pawns glanced at each other before raising their blasters, aiming them at Neo Metal Sonic. In the blink of an eye, Neo Metal Sonic swiftly wrenched their weapons out of their hands, rendering them weaponless before firing back at the robots. Zerinn stood, slack-jawed at the swiftness, Neo Metal Sonic destroyed the robots, scattering cogs, gears and screws all over the stairs.

Zerinn glanced around the dark cavern, his eyesight adjusting to the darkness, noticing a small camera mounted in the walls, the lens zooming in before swiveling around and capturing the image of the destroyed robots before zooming in on Neo Metal Sonic. In response, Neo Metal Sonic raised a hand, unleashing a blast at the camera destroying it effortlessly leaving it a smoldering wreck. Zerinn paused in shock, witnessing Neo Metal Sonic's actions. A small tense smile graced his face.

"Heh, your boss isn't going to be happy when he finds out what you did," Zerinn chuckled nervously. "I wouldn't be surprised if he dismantles you for your disobedience."

"I trust you will remain silent about what you just witnessed," Neo Metal Sonic threatened Zerinn. "If you have the gall to tell my master, your demise will be slow and agonizing. Besides, we're already here, in the Hidden Palace Zone."

Zerinn wasn't aware they'd arrived at their destination until he entered the giant underground chamber, staring around in disbelief at the vast cavern stretched out before him. Ancient mosaics lined the walls, some of the tiles worn away with age, the outline of the useless Super Emeralds resting in their crystalline beds. A pair of footsteps announced Eggman's presence, as the rotund figure entered the room before reaching out to grabbing Zerinn roughly by the arm, dragging him towards a small table in the middle of the room.

Zerinn found his attention drawn towards a small crane machine hovering over the table. Quartz, Saber, and Nephthys busied themselves by doing various tasks until Quartz noticed Zerinn, his lips pulling back into a fierce scowl.

"Well, look who's come back for us after all this time," Quartz said, wasting no time in lifting his roboticizied limb and holding it up high. "You took your sweet time bailing us out of this predicament; it's too late for me since Eggman decided to give my arm an upgrade."

Zerinn paled seeing Quartz's roboticized limb. In his wildest dreams, he'd never imagined any member of his squad or his family would ever be subjected to the horrors of roboticization, recalling Kaito's words on that accursed day when Zerinn placed his selfish desires over his half brother's warning.

"Quartz, I'm sorry I had-"

Zerinn felt the cold steel dagger placed against his jugular, Nephthys, wrapping an arm around his shoulder, preventing him from moving. Zerinn knew this was Nephthys' favorite attack tactic coming up from behind and slicing her knife across his throat.

"Not a word boss," Nephthys said icily. " If you utter a sound I'll be sure to make it quick and painless."

Saber did nothing about Zerinn's current predicament. Zerinn was forced to enter a small room with the three jackals surrounding a metal table, with restraints positioned on the ends of the table.

"It's ready right?" Quartz asked impatiently.

Eggman cackled. "Everything is ready to go, and soon I'll have the Phantom Ruby back under my control. If I had to wager a guess for the destroyed robots, then I'm correct in assuming Zerinn is the one responsible for destroying my robots?"

"Yes, Zerinn was the one responsible for destroying your robots," Neo Metal Sonic said. "I restrained him just in time before he could make his escape."

Orbot and Cubot were hovering behind him observing their creator striding towards a small console located in the middle of the room, with a small medical cabinet to the right side of the room. With a glance over his shoulder, Eggman swiftly gave the command for Zerinn to be restrained.

The jackal hissed and fought back against his former squadmates who wrestled him onto the table spreading his limbs out in an x shape, hearing the snaps of the clamps locking his wrists and ankles into place. Zerinn hissed and fought against his restraints for several moments before he slumped panting against them.

"Are you comfortable Zerinn?" Eggman asked mockingly. "This would've been so much easier for me if you'd handed over the ruby sooner."

"The day I'd willingly hand over the ruby, is the day I die, you fat bastard," Zerinn snarled. "When I get out of these restraints, the first thing I'm going to do is unleash the ruby's power decimating your army for good. How about I give you a little demonstration of my power?"

"Funny you should say that," Eggman replied, grinning sinisterly. "I found it interesting you mentioned that even though the ruby has long since bonded to you. I've found a simple way to remove the ruby by forcibly removing it from your chest. Trust me this process this will hurt a little."

In an instant, before the crane could plunge to remove the ruby from Zerinn's chest forcibly. The jackal drew on what little reserves of power the ruby had left, a wave of energy washed over the room reversing the gravity as Quartz, Saber, Nephthtus, and Eggman was thrown up against the ceiling of the room due to a momentary loss of gravitational force. Due to the strain at that moment the shattered ruby on Infinite's chest was unable to hand the pressure and finally broke apart in a shatter of magenta glass.

Wincing, Zerinn looked down at his chest feeling a searing pain where the ruby resided, noticing a bald patch of white skin underneath the area where his shattered ruby was gone, the only traces of it having even existed at all were the shards of magenta fragments scattered all over Zerinn's chest.

"No, it's gone," Zerinn said in disbelief glancing down at his chest. "I need to get out of here now."

"No way! I can't believe the ruby shattered!"

Eggman was the first person to react, running over to Zerinn hoisting the jackal to his feet looking at the bald patch of fur, unhooking him from the restraints, nearly dragging him off the table.

Eggman's fingers roughly parted the fur scooping up the smaller fragments of the ruby of Zerinn's chest. Seizing his chance to escape, the jackal kicked out at Eggman's jaw bolting towards the Hidden Palace's exit. Eggman fought the urge to scream holding his jaw, feeling the aching pain traveling along, it glimpsing a flash of black and white fur sprinting towards the stairs.

"Neo Metal Sonic, stop him!"

Neo Metal Sonic grabbed Zerinn's tail pulling him back down the steps. Zerinn felt his jaw clamping down hard on his tongue, drawing blood. In the blink of an eye, he lunged out and tackling Neo Metal Sonic down to the ground. He landed a punch against the robotic hedgehog's face before he felt Saber and Quartz, pulling him of Neo Metal Sonic.

"We're not letting you go without a fight boss!"

Zerinn side stepped Quartz's awkward charge, feeling one of kunai expertly thrown by Quartz, grazing his shoulder; his legs trembled from lack of use recalling he'd spent most of his time sitting in a small jail cell for three days when he was in the Resistance's custody. Nephthys raced ahead of him, holding out her dagger, blocking the only exit.

Zerin glowered as he took several shaky steps to the left. His eardrums ached becuase of how loud Neo Metal Sonic's engine roared. It brought the mindless drone alive. He charged straight for the helpless canine. Neo Metal Sonic drew back his fist, driving it into Zerinn's left shoulder; the hard blow sent Zerinn flying backward into a nearby desk, the force of the impact split the desk in half, landing on the steel floor a shower od papers and splinters covering the jackal's prone body.

Zerinn, gasping, for breath staggered to his feet only to sink with a cry of pain, pushing the papers, of him scowling until he saw the tomahawk landing dangerously close to his head sending up a cloud of dust into the air.

"Enough all of you!"

A thin trickle of blood flowed from Zerinn's shoulder. Instinctively, his hand went to the shoulder, forcing himself to stand, Eggman striding towards him, yanking hard on his dreadlocks, causing him to gasp quietly in pain, fighting back the prick of tears in his eyes from the pain.

"Neo Metal Sonic and Nephthys, escort Zerinn to the prison cell," Eggman said. "If anyone of you continues to fight, perhaps all of you will benefit from a trip to the roboticizer."

"Shall I escort Zerinn to the roboticizer?" Neo Metal Sonic asked. "It will be my pleasure to inflict severe injuries on your former ally."

"No, even after all the hassle he's caused me there's still a chance he could have traces of the Phantom Ruby's power in his body. "For now, have Zerinn escorted to the prison cell outside of this room."

Eggman released his hold on Zerinn allowing Neo Metal Sonic and Nephthys each took hold of Zerinn's arms leading the subdued jackal out of the room. Eggman sighed in irritation walking back towards the table picking up small fragments of the shattered finalized prototype. He sullenly examined them as he held them up to the light.

Orbot took the opportunity to approach Eggman Cubot hiding behind Quartz in case his creator lost his temper. Neither jackal wisely chose to say anything in fear of Eggman carrying out his promise to roboticize them both for their failure to capture Zerinn.

"Of course, it appears even the finalized Phantom Ruby prototype had its limits," Eggman said his tone sounding disappointed. "Ah, well it can't be helped, I still have several ready-made prototypes all to be used as a backup. Orbot, oversee Mecha Sonic's repairs. I have no doubt the Resistance will attempt to reclaim Angel Island, so I'll have to accelerate my plans with the Master Emerald."

Eggman let out another irritated sigh walking back to the table ignoring the two jackals. Saber shuddered, unable to shake the feeling something was about to go wrong. Orbot took the chance to approach Eggman tapping him lightly on the shoulder.

"Uh, boss, you honestly don't see Metal betraying you?" Orbot asked.

"Honestly Orbot, you worry too much over Neo Metal Sonic," Eggman replied off handly. "He's loyal to me since I've reprogrammed him, although I have to wonder if allowing Metal to come into contact with the Phantom Ruby prototype which originally belonged to Kaito was a good idea in the first place."

Eggman turned to glance at Saber; the jackal lifted his head to meet Eggman's gaze silently.

Eggman sighed. "Alright then Saber, bring me Mecha Sonic so I can repair and upgrade his power cells so he'll be able to retain the power of the Master Emerald for a longer period."

"I'll bring your robot to you at once," Saber said barely able to keep the disdain out of his voice. "I'm sure he'll become your most powerful creation to crush the Resistance."

Eggman waved Saber away, and the jackal left the lab heading up the stairs, his mind already formulating a plan to ensure he and his comrades would be able to escape the iron grip of the Eggman Empire.

"Quartz and Nephthys, I promise to find a way to get us out of this mess," Saber vowed to himself. " I can't say the same for Zerinn. None of us can trust him anymore, not after what he's done to us. He can rot within Eggman's prison as far as I'm concerned."

Saber exited the Hidden Palace, his resolve firmly in place. He would do everything he could to ensure his squadmates would remain safe, even if he had to die to succeed in his goal to keep both Nephthys and Quartz away from the ironclad grip of the Eggman Empire.

* * *

The Resistance ship cut through the air on its course towards Station Square. The first few stars appeared in the skies, the last traces of light fading away from the heavens. The vessel the Resistance boarded was one of their last few remaining ships as most of them had been destroyed during the war leaving the Resistance with a limited number of functioning airships.

Tailing the ship were four G.U.N fighter jets flying in a tight formation several meters behind the Resistance's air fleet and acting as reinforcements in the unlikely scenario they would come under attack.

Silver, Amy, Kaito, Sahara, Sonic and Tails stood in front of a large monitor hanging above the ship's control panel. A video feed flickered to life showing, Rouge, Shadow, and Omega standing in the middle of the square with several G.U.N soldiers milling, making final preparations for the inevitable raid on Angel Island.

"We've received word about what happened to Angel Island," Rouge said solemnly. "Commander Tower is sending the Blue Falcon unit to lend whatever support we can. Shadow, Omega and I will also be helping you guys out as well. If Eggman gets his hands on that beautiful gem, I don't think this world can survive another war."

"I trust that Zerinn is still in your custody?" Shadow asked in a steely tone of voice.

"We're planning to meet up with Knuckles at the refugee camp in Station Square," Silver said confidently. "I'm sorry to inform everyone, Eggman currently has Zerinn in his clutches. We failed to keep the power of the Phantom Ruby out of Eggman's hands."

"Don't give up hope yet," Shadow said stoically. "I understand that you're going to be bringing the five Chaos Emeralds with you. A risky gambit to be sure, are you truly willing to take that risk?"

"I don't like it either Shadow," Sonic said fighting to keep his voice steady. "But it's our last resort - all I have to do is to go super, knowing you, you'll want to fight alongside me."

Shadow stoically nodded confirming his support. "Of course, if Eggman wants to reclaim this world he's not going to get it without a fight. The Guardian has an unbreakable fighting spirit."

"We're going to be arriving in Station Square in ten minutes," Tails said from his position at the control panel. "I hope there won't be too much of panic once we land in Station Square.

The monitor flickered off to a static feed, the rest of the Resistance members milled about making their final preparations. Amy walked over to Gadget tapping the wolf lightly on the shoulder to get his attention.

"Hey, Gadget might I ask how both you and Mikhail met Zerinn for the first time?" Amy asked.

"When I was a child I grew up in a refugee camp after losing my parents to one of Eggman's raids on Cyber City," Gadget answered frowning."Most of the citizens perished in the attack, including my parents. Three years later, I was forced to flee the camp. By a random stroke of luck, I encountered Zerinn, at first we didn't get along so well at first. After a while of getting to know each other, we became the best of friends."

"However, as time went on Zerinn began to change for the worse," Mikhail said. "Zerinn along with the rest of the Jackal Squad began killing some not so innocent Mobians, to satisfy his hot-headed ego filled dream to become the Ultimate Mercenary. In the end Gadget and I broke off our friendship with Zerinn."

Amy made a low sympathetic noise reaching out to draw Gadget into a gentle embrace. The wolf returned the embrace. Mikhail silently came over to Gadget hugging him softly. Sonic came over to rest a hand on the wolf's shoulder.

"We'll be able to stop Eggman," Sonic said confidently. "You're going to be in for a treat; you're going to see the Chaos Emeralds in action. We didn't use them in the war due to the threat of the Phantom Ruby along with the fact we didn't want Eggman getting his hands on the Chaos Emeralds."

"It would be terrible if he did get his hands on them," Gadget said. "Together we were able to stop Eggman once before, and we'll do it again."

"Sonic's right," Vector piped up from his position next to Espio. "We'll be able to win, and put Eggman in his place once and for all!"

The rest of the Resistance members cheered at Vector's proclamation, feeling nothing, but hope that maybe they would be able to survive whatever Eggman had in store for Mobius.

* * *

Knuckles found himself pacing back and forth near a small crowd impatiently awaiting the Resistance's arrival; his eyes fixed on the blue skies then back to the group looking back at him anxiously until he saw a flash of white and blue the large Resistance ship descending through the clouds heading towards Station Square. The crowd of Mobians cheered upon seeing the Resistance ship landing. Knuckles looked over at Rouge the bat, flashing a small reassuring smile.

"Don't worry Knuckles, we'll have you back home in no time," Rouge said reassuringly. "It's a shame Eggman has his filthy hands all over such a lovely gem and is using it for evil. When this is all over, you'll have to let me come up and visit the island sometime to look at it."

"Nice try, you don't give up easily do you Batgirl?" Knuckles asked a small smile on his face.

"No, you can't blame a girl for trying though."

The hatch to the ship opened with Sonic, walking down the ramp with Tails, Amy and Silver taking in the sight of Knuckles limping towards them a determined frown on his face not allowing his injuries to hinder the determined echidna.

"I take it there's no way you're going to sit on the sidelines for this one?" Sonic queried.

"No, I've been working on a new plan," Knuckles said. "There's no way it's going to turn out as badly Operation Big Wave did. The plan's simple - we sneak under cover of night and launch a raid on Angel Island. We'll have Mecha Sonic and Neo Metal Sonic amongst Eggman's forces. Eggman also has the Jackal Squad stationed on the island as well."

"We already know about Mecha Sonic," Tails said grimly. "He was the one who captured Zerinn. There's a likely chance Eggman will have the power of the Phantom Ruby backing him up since we all saw what happened when the Chaos Emeralds interacted with Zerinn's ruby."

Everyone fell silent upon recalling the incident with Zerinn allowing Eggman's former ally escaped to Park Avenue before the Resistance recaptured him. A few disheartened mutters echoed along the crowd at the potentially unwinnable scenario. Sonic saw Silver open his mouth to say something to have the words die on his lips.

Knuckles took the initiative heading over to a small rock pile holding his hands up for silence the crowd's mutters dying away all eyes were on the echidna. Purple eyes gazed back at the large number of terrified Mobians Most of Station Square's citizens already had accepted the fact Eggman would do even more damage to their world.

"You all know Eggman now has Angel Island under his control," Knuckles called out to the crowd. "He's also captured Infinite and has the power of the Phantom Ruby once more under his control. I know it's a bleak situation, but its one we can win."

"Its why we're asking for your help to join the fight," Sonic called out. "I know all of you bear scars both mentally and physically from Eggman's take over of the planet, so do I. Eggman put me through unspeakable tortures, while I was his prisoner onboard the Death Egg if we back down and don't fight back we'll be handing Eggman a victory. There's no way we're going to let Mobius fall even further into further ruin, we're looking for Mobians with unbreakable fighting spirits, joining the fight to save our home, we can turn the tide of war, and triumph over the Eggman Empire once more whose with us?"

Loud cheers erupted from the crowd most of them looking hopeful for the first time since hearing the news Eggman's takeover of Angel Island.

Sonic looked around seeing more brave citizens putting their hands up stepping forward feeling pride towards his fellow Mobians eager to fight to save Mobius.

"Alright then, we've got plenty of Wispons, so you'll have to learn to use them quickly," Silver said stoically. "I'm glad, so many of you don't want to see this world fall into ruin, but please don't do anything reckless. We will win this fight and save the world in the process!"

At Silver's words, loud cheers erupted the Resistance entered the ship along with their new volunteers. With a roar of the ship's engines, the vehicle ascended into the skies heading towards Angel Island in the hopes the citizens of Mobius would be able to triumph in the upcoming final battle to save their home once and for all.

* * *

 _Author's note, First of all, I know this is an interlude chapter which was my intention with nothing major happening in this chapter it's setting the stage for the final battle taking place on Angel Island. One of the plot points I'd long decided on was the destruction of the finalized Phantom Ruby prototype, the reason it shattered its because Zerinn drew on too much of the ruby's power at once._

 _The reason Knuckles asked for volunteers is due to the Resistance being low in number after the events of Operation Big Wave. The Resistance only has around sixteen percent of their forces left after the war. The citizens of Mobius don't want to see their home fall into further ruin which is mostly the reason why the citizens of Station Square eagerly joined the assault to reclaim Angel Island._

 _Zerinn won't also be Eggman's prisoner for long; he's going to be breaking out pretty soon. The next chapters are going to be the final four-parter multi-chapter called Battle for Angel Island._

 _Also as a small note, there's a good chance I won't be updating this fic until the twelfth of January at the latest due to me having to make preparations for yet another trip in early January. I'm sorry for this new delay, and I thank all of you for being patient._

 _As per usual constructive criticism, any accidental errors I need to go back and fix / thoughts/ reviews are welcomed and appreciated. I'll see you guys as soon as I can when I come back from my trip._


	41. The battle for Angel Island part one

_Author's note Hi, there I'm back at last from my trip, sorry about the delay. Another reason for the delays was that its true I wasn't feeling well due to a minor stomach bug, but I'm feeling better now._ _I want to give a special thank you to the Sensational Spider Dom 321 for the shout out, and the get well soon message he left in the last chapter of his story Awakened. Please do check out his stories, and I recommend you do so._

 _As per usual thank yous go out to TGN, The Sensational SpiderDom321, bajy, Yami Chaos 27, stephanieeiche10, Turquoise Triangle, Seedrain Sparkles,_ _Black Twilight Wolf,_ _Keyblade Writer of the Dawn, SharpDragonKlaw, and Fanakatsuki for leaving reviews. I sincerely appreciate the support._

 _Special thanks to The Remnant's Sage and Argonian Dovahkiin, for leaving a favorite and follow along with PixTV, PocketMage, and Loulmelt. I genuinely appreciate the support, you guys have shown for the fic._

 _There's nothing else for me to say since I hope people enjoy the new chapter. Without any further ado, the moment you've been waiting for, the first part of the final battle for Angel Island is here at last._

 _Disclaimer. I do not own anything. Sonic the Hedgehog is copyrighted to Sega._

* * *

As the sun slowly sank below beneath the surface of the waves. The shape of Angel Island hovered in place in the sky. The sound of large jet engines pierced the early evening air as the jets flew in a tight formation heading straight for the floating island.

A metallic hum filled the air as in a silent cloud the Buzz Bombers rising from behind the island's treeline in a tight formation charged straight for the G.U.N jets. In response, the jets outmaneuvered the Buzz Bomber's assault before performing a sharp turn and opening fire on the Buzz Bombers blowing the robotic bees apart effortlessly and resulting in robotic parts falling towards the ocean.

"Blue Falcon unit here," the lead pilot spoke. "We're in the process of engaging Eggman's forces. Heavy Dog unit is scouring the island seeking to expose any weak points of the cannons stationed all over the island."

"Copy that, Blue Falcon the Resistance will be on their way soon to provide backup, with any luck we'll be able to hold of Eggman's forces until then."

Within the depths of the Master Emerald Chamber, Eggman heard faint rumblings and noticed thin particles of dust raining down from the ceiling. A tight frown set on his face before he set a few fragments of the Phantom Ruby on the surface of the giant emerald. The falling dust from the ceiling confirmed Eggman's worst suspicions; the final battle had indeed begun.

"Alright then, Mecha Sonic, activate the cannons! Neo Metal Sonic, come with me to rally the troops! Shoot down every single fighter jet you can; we're not going to let the Resistance put an end to the rebirth of the Eggman Empire!"

Mecha Sonic raced over to a small console resting in the terminal and input several commands. Eggman turned his attention to the monitors observing the cannons rising off the ground; plasma blasts erupted from the muzzles striking most of the fighter jets and sending them spiraling towards the ocean, thick black smoke curling up from the surface upon the downed jets hitting the water with a splash sending the columns of water rising into the air.

The rotund figure wasted no time hurrying up the stairs to the entrance of the Hidden Palace Zone, thrusting the door open and raising a hand to shield his eyes from the last of the evening sun's glare. Neo Metal Sonic stood next to tightly packed formations consisting of Buzz Bombers, Egg Pawns, Motobugs, and Egg Lancers. In the distance, Eggman spied a white object towering over the trees in Mushroom Hill Zone.

"Eggman Empire forces! Go up there and destroy every single member of the Resistance!" Eggman said. "Neo Metal Sonic, I need you to launch a counter-"

Eggman's voice died on the wind noticing a cold metal hand clamping down hard around Eggman's upper left arm, silvery digits digging through his, clothes. Neo Metal Sonic lifted Eggman easily from the ground holding him high up in the air, the tips of Eggman's shoes nearly touching the ground as he stared into the red optics of Neo Metal Sonic who maintained his blank gaze.

"Put me down at once Neo Metal Sonic! This is treason!"

"You were foolish in upgrading me once again, Doctor. When you improved me again to my new body, you failed to rewrite vital aspects of my programming, that which allowed me to maintain my free will," Neo Metal Sonic said. "I will bring back the Eggman Empire, under my competent leadership, and I will rename it the Metal Sonic Empire! Egg Pawns escort our former creator to the prison cell with the disgraced Jackal. I have a world to conquer."

A pair of Egg Pawns came forward hesitantly taking Eggman's arms in their own before their creator yanked his arms out of their grip stalking ahead, fully aware of the two robots' cold steel blasters pressing against his spine. However, neither robot failed to notice the sinister smile on Eggman's face.

"Well played, Neo, but I wouldn't be so sure of your victory yet. There's a little surprise I left behind for you. I'm not going to give up my dreams of reconquering Mobius without a fight. The secret weapon, I've been working on for the last few days will make sure of that."

An impatient shove from behind him forced Eggman to keep moving. The rotund figure knew there'd been a chance, once he reprogrammed Metal Sonic, of his prize creation betraying him, but the mad scientist began to formulate a plan preventing Neo Metal Sonic from seizing control of his empire.

* * *

In his prison cell, Zerinn sat curled up against the wall of the structure, his eyes focusing on a shard of light slicing in through the window, his gaze drawn to both Quartz, and Nephthys, the two of them, glancing up at the ceiling their weapons drawn. Both jackals anxiously paced back and forth noticing the small particles of dust falling from the ceiling. In a tucked away corner an intercom remained in place on the wall and crackled to life as Neo Metal Sonic's voice spilled through it.

"Jackal Squad you are under new leadership. I've seized control of Eggman's Empire. I need you topside now! Angel Island's under attack! When you go up there kill any Resistance soldiers you'll find, or else it'll be a trip to the roboticizer!"

Zerinn growled, angered by Eggman's creation's threat to his former squadmates. Zerinn parted his mouth, thinking of what to say to ease the hatred directed at him until he spoke. His voice was raspy from lack of use and he became surprised by the words pouring out of his mouth.

"Guys, I know a simple apology won't magically fix everything that's happened to the Jackal Squad, I've been a shitty leader. I abandoned you the first chance I got, and for what? A dumb ruby which blinded me to outside world around me. I guess you could say I've been living an illusion for over seven months now."

Quartz turned to face him, his face a mixture of emotions. "Oh, so after my arm is roboticzied you decide to beg for our forgiveness? It's little late for that Zerinn, 'sorry' won't bring back Ace, Flint, Roscoe, Blade, and Iris. If we let you out, we're still never going to forgive you."

"Besides, you still need to pay for what you've done to this world," Nephthys sneered. "Preferably, I wish you had died, after summoning a giant virtual sun to throw at us during the final battle, but still it's better to remain loyal - at least we're going to aid Eggman in wiping out the Resistance once and for all."

"Once he's wiped out the Resistance, Eggman will turn all of us into Robians, and he'll do the same to everyone else in Mobius, "Zerinn said. "Eggman's known for making false promises; he didn't tell me the Phantom Ruby would make sick, the only way we're going to get out of this mess is by escaping together. Where's Saber?"

"We're not going to tell you where Saber is right now, he said he planned to get something to aid us in the upcoming battle," Nephthys said. "Even if we help out the Resistance no one's going to forget we sided with Eggman willingly; they're going to throw us in jail. Even if we don't end up in jail or worse executed for our crimes, face it Zerinn, the Jackal Squad's reputation is finished, no one is going to want to hire us for a job again."

Zerinn fell silent mulling over Nephthy's words. Even Quartz silently looked down at his feet, before heaving an irritated sigh and reaching down for the Phantom Ruby fragment hanging on the cord around his neck to send out a blast of red energy at the cell door destroying it effortlessly. Zerinn tensed for a fight raising his fists tail thudding against the ground.

"Are you coming or not?" Quartz asked Zerinn impatiently.

Zerinn's ears twitched in surprise, his jaw dropped open at Quartz's question. Nephthys huffed, clasping her dagger and racing out of the room the sound of her footsteps echoing off the rough stonework. Zerinn wasted no time in following his ex squadmates out of the small room. Zerinn knew a fight lay ahead of everyone to determine the fate of Mobius.

* * *

Saber hurried up the steps, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the bright glare of the sunset. The jackal gazed around the area, nervously fidgeting with the Phantom Ruby shard resting on a thin cord across his neck. The Jackal looked worryingly at his hands staring at the pair of Chaos Emeralds, which he'd stolen from the lab when none of Eggman's forces were looking.

Saber ran through a clearing hurrying past a massive structure with scaffolding surrounding the covered robot which was the final Weapon he'd overheard Eggman boasting would be the key to wiping out the Resistance.

Saber's blood chilled, coming to a stop swiftly removing his beret revealing a short scruffy hair, tucking the Chaos Emeralds away underneath his beret putting it back over his head. His ears pricked hearing a pair of footsteps walking through the grass, coming to a stop mere inches away from Saber.

Saber forced himself to turn around coming face to face with Neo Metal Sonic; the robotic hedgehog lunged out wrapping his hand around Saber's neck beginning to squeeze down on his windpipe, cutting off vital oxygen to the jackal's lungs.

"Give me the two Chaos Emeralds," Neo Metal Sonic demanded, keeping his fingers wrapped around Saber's throat. "Otherwise, your life is forfeit."

In desperation Saber traced the Phantom Ruby fragment hanging around his neck unleashing a blast of red energy aimed at his enemy. The force of the blast knocked Neo Metal Sonic several feet backward crashing hard on his back. Gasping for air, Saber rubbing at his throat broke into a desperate sprint avoiding the plasma blasts the Egg Pawns fired off which struck the ground leaving small black carters in the terrain.

"Egg Pawns! Pursue the jackal, retrieve the Chaos Emeralds or I'll reduce all of you to piles of scrap!" Neo Metal Sonic yelled getting to his feet.

The Egg Pawns resumed their pursuit of Saber. Neo Metal Sonic ascended into the air, his optics seeing the outline of the Resistance ship cruising through the skies on its final approach to Angel Island. The robotic hedgehog clenched his fist fuelled by his determination to end the Resistance once and for all.

"You can try to reclaim this island, my loathsome copy, I will personally end your life once and for all." Neo Metal Sonic said. "Mobius will soon be mine, to conquer and no one will get in my way this time."

Satisfied Neo Metal Sonic descended towards the entrance to the Hidden Palace. Briefly resting a hand against the smooth, worn surface of the rock pillars, he hurried down the steps into the depths of the Hidden Palace, pressing a switch on the wall allowing him access to the Master Emerald which still remained unguarded.

* * *

The Resistance ship crested over the clouds Angel Island coming into view. Within the depths of the Resistance ship Knuckles paced around impatiently pounding his fists together in small circles. Amy and Sonic stood near the front of the rest of the assembled members of the Resistance sitting together in a small semi-circle and eagerly awaiting instructions.

"Well, the crash course for most of the recruits went well in the training hall," Espio said. "Most of them handled the Wispons skillfully with a couple of incidents I won't mention."

A pair of wolves glanced at each other, sheepishly clutching their Burst Wispons and exposing their burnt tails. With a few chuckles coming from several of the volunteer Mobians. Shadow, Rouge, and Omega waited for instructions from Knuckles. Shadow leaned against the wall lost in his thoughts. Gadget, Mikhail, Kaito Chaser, and Sahara stood at the edge of the small semicircle.

"All right let's go over the plan one more time," Knuckles said. "Team one will consist of Sonic, Shadow, Amy and I. Our main goal is to reach the Master Emerald and stop whatever Eggman's plans for the Master Emerald are. I trust team one to help me carry out this task."

"Team two will be under Silver's command, his team's goal will be to distract the Jackal Squad, possibily rescuing Zerinn in the process. His team will consist of Gadget, Mikhail, Kaito, the Chaotix and Rouge in this mission."

"Team three will be led by Tails; he's proved himself in Metropolis. His team will consist of Rouge, Chaser. Sahara, the volunteer resistance members, and Omega. Their task is simple, take out the cannons stationed all over Angel Island, aid G.U.N in wiping out Eggman's army, hopefully locating whatever secret weapon he has stashed away on Angel Island."

Everyone fell silent upon hearing the words 'secret weapon' shifting uncomfortably on their seats and turning towards one of the monitors stationed around the interior of the airship, which flickered to life through the static an image of Neo Metal Sonic's face.

"Hello, my loathsome copy, and all of his allies. I'm here to inform all of you the Eggman Empire is now under new leadership since I've wrested power from my foolish creator and once I've drawn on the power of the Master Emerald," Neo Metal Sonic said. "The end will soon be near for everyone in the Resistance. If you think you can stop me Sonic, bring your best fighters with you to the entrance of the Hidden Palace Zone."

"There's no way you're getting to the Master Emerald!" Knuckles responded, trembling with rage at the thought of Neo Metal Sonic's using the power of the giant emerald to further his schemes.

"After all this time, I still haven't forgotten our last clash on Angel Island the last time we met Guardian," Neo Metal Sonic said. "When we meet again, this time you won't be walking away alive. I have to prepare, for a world to conquer."

Knuckles yelled in rage running towards the monitor. Neo Meal Sonic closed the connection leaving the echidna driving one of his fists into the screen splitting it in half. Both pieces of the monitor crashed on the ground. Several Resistance members sprinted to the other side of the ship, desperate to put distance between themselves and the irate guardian's wrath.

Knuckles continued to lash out at the monitor, reducing it to a pile of sparking metal as the fight left his body. Rouge silently approached, him hesitantly slipping an arm over his shoulder hoping the gesture would calm him.

"Well, if he hasn't gotten to the Master Emerald Knux, then everything should be okay," Rouge said hoping to reassure the echinda. "This time, unlike Operation Big Wave, I can't see any way this plan is going to fail."

"Besides, it's not over until the fat Eggman sings!" Sonic exclaimed pumping his fist in the air for emphasis.

Knuckles inhaled, seeing Angel Island coming into view. Every muscle in the Guardian's body tensed for the upcoming battle. "Even though Metal's taken over the island, we still haven't lost the battle. We will win this fight and save Mobius once more."

The boom of cannons exploded as several plasma blasts raced through the skies directly heading towards the Resistance ship. Tails' expert piloting saved the Resistance ship and countered the cannon's attack by firing of laser shots in return destroying the cannons with the aid of the surviving G.U.N fighter jets. Tails directed the ship landing it near the entrance to the Mushroom Hill Zone. Already several of Eggman's robots were already launching their attack, firing of laser blasts landing several hits on the ship's surface.

The door to the side of the ship opened allowing the hordes of Resistance soldiers raced out of it meeting Neo Metal Sonic's forces head-on. Omega unleashed a barrage of his arsenal on the robots destroying them effortlessly; the Chaotix made short work of the robots. Gadget unleashed his grappling hook destroying several robots in the process.

"To your left, boys!" Vector's shout could be heard over the frantic melee of the battle, Charmy and Espio sticking close to their leader destroying any robots who got to close to the trio of experienced fighters. In the middle of the fray, Kaito spotted Chaser valiantly holding his own against the horde of robots, preventing them from attacking any of the more inexperienced fighters.

"I've got your back, Chaser!" Kaito called out hacking away at several robots standing back to back with Chaser coming to his aid. Kaito heard Sahara's footsteps racing over the terrain and saw her firing off blasts of electricity from her Wispon.

Kaito briefly glanced around the field. Wherever one Egg Pawn appeared, two more seemed to take the fallen robot's make matters worse, Mecha Sonic joined the fray, singling out an inexperienced soldier and quickly ending his life, his body crumpling to the ground. As even more robots claimed even more lives.

Amy raced behind Sonic, Shadow and Knuckles heading towards the entrance to the Hidden Palace Zone. Without warning, Egg Pawns and Motobugs erupted from the bushes sending twigs, leaves and rocks scattering all over the ground, advancing towards the group of Mobians. Sonic curled, up launching a successful homing attack destroying the robots, Shadow unleashed several Chaos Spears at the robots destroying them.

"You guys go ahead! We'll hold them off!" Amy said swinging out with her Piko- Piko Hammer.

Shadow, Sonic, and Knuckles slowed down when they were approaching the entrance to the Hidden Palace Zone. Sonic reached back in his quills checking to make sure the two Chaos Emeralds were tucked away in his quills. Shadow still collapsed one of the Chaos Emeralds in his hands, while Knuckles held onto the other two Chaos Emeralds.

"We only have five of the Chaos Emeralds," Shadow said. "I can sense the other two are close. I'd suggest we'd locate the other two emeralds before taking on Neo Metal Sonic."

"My thoughts exactly Shad," Sonic said frowning.

A bright golden glow erupted from the depths of the Hidden Palace, lighting up the area before fading away as a golden blur shot into the air. Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles shielded their eyes from the unexpected glow of light. As quickly it arrived, the glow faded away, revealing Neo Metal Sonic coated in a bright golden glow and glancing down gleefully taking in the shocked expressions of his enemies' faces.

"What do you think Sonic? It's thanks to the power of the Master Emerald that I was able even to achieve this form," Neo Metal Sonic said gloatingly. "I am now Super Neo-Metal Sonic."

Sonic's heart stilled seeing Neo - no Super Neo Metal Sonic descending to the ground. Knuckles made a desperate charge, raising one of his fists and preparing to strike Neo Metal Sonic to see for the robotic hedgehog to accelerate grappling the echinda effortlessly landing several blows on him before, slamming him to the ground. Knuckles lay still on the ground, moaning slightly in pain but, forcing himself to stand up and ignoring the sudden stab of pain coming from his wrist. Neo Metal Sonic turned, to face Sonic and Shadow.

"Now then, since it's clear both of you have chosen to fight back against the rise of my new empire, I promise both of you, that I will kill you without any mercy whatsoever," Neo Metal Sonic said. "The sound of your screams will be music to my auditory receptors."

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow called out.

Shadow wasted no time unleashing several Chaos Spears throwing them at Super Neo Metal Sonic. At the last second Super, Neo Metal Sonic sidestepped the hail of Chaos energy projectiles charging straight at Shadow driving both of his feet into Shadow's chest unleashing several kicks and punches on the Ultimate Lifeform; the last kick sent Shadow flying backward landing hard on his chest. The hedgehog got up to his feet, before Neo Metal Sonic

"You won't win this war," Shadow said scowling. "If I had to guess, you've already killed Eggman."

"My foolish creator is still alive," Neo Metal Sonic replied disdainfully. "I've had several of my forces escort him to a small holding cell here on the island. Once, I've taken over Mobius; I will publicly execute him myself."

While Neo Metal Sonic was distracted Sonic seized his opportunity to launch an attack jumping into the air performing a homing attack on Neo only for the robotic hedgehog to pivot around on his heel curling up a fish landing a punch in Sonic's chest. The force of the punch knocked Sonic out of the homing attack, the blow sent Sonic crashing to the ground.

"Is that the best you can do my loathsome copy?" Neo Metal Sonic asked Sonic.

"Heh, oh you've seen nothing yet!" Sonic replied confidently.

In response the blue hedgehog tried to unleash several kicks, on Super Neo Metal Sonic's hide, failing to inflict any damage. Neo Metal Sonic pretended to flinch whenever he was struck, lashing out grabbing Sonic's wrist twisting it behind his back. Sonic gasped out in pain, sinking to his knees, noticing both Shadow and Knuckles racing over to him to aid him.

"Hand over the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic. If you don't your death will be an example to show what happens to those who dare to defy me."

"Not a chance Metal!" Sonic rebuked. "So, what so you can use them to turn into a souped-up version of that ugly dragon form again? "

Sonic's ears rang from the high pitched noise coming from the engine the next thing he knew Super Neo Metal Sonic shot into the skies hovering above Angel Island holding Sonic away from his body by the wrist allowing Sonic's legs to dangle beneath him. Sonic gazed at the blood red optics a seeing Neo Metal Sonic tilt his head slightly.

"Goodbye, forever Sonic the Hedgehog," Neo Metal Sonic said.

Sonic tensed feeling Super Neo Metal Sonic release his hold on Sonic sending the blue hedgehog plummeting through the air. Super Neo Metal Sonic hovered in place, his hands by his sides, waiting for the inevitable moment his loathsome copy would perish.

Meanwhile down on the ground Tails and Silver's teams were bunched together, the telekinetic hedgehog wrapped, several trees, throwing them at the robots destroying them. In the air Tails dodged a pair of Buzz Bombers, dropping to the ground destroying them effortlessly with his tails sending robotic part scattering everywhere.

In the midst of the fray Silver turned his head spotting a flash of golden hedgehog, holding onto a blue object.

"Wait, a minute has Sonic gone super?" Silver asked. "But how is that possible? We only had five Chaos Emeralds, unless they found the other two emeralds."

Tails couldn't understand the small knot of dread forming in his stomach, but quickly ascending into the air, his heart stilled seeing Super Neo Metal Sonic holding Sonic out at an arm's length. The fox watched with mounting horror; Neo released his grip on Sonic allowing gravity to take hold of the blue hedgehog dragging him down towards the ground.

"Sonic!"

Tails hurried over to Sonic grabbing his hands twirling his tails in an attempt to slow the rate of Sonic's descent, the two of them landing safely on the ground the hedgehog stumbled sinking to his knees with Tails crouching down next to Sonic seeing the blue hedgehog pushing himself to his feet, stumbling before he regained his balance.

"Sonic, are you okay?" Tails asked anxiously.

"Thanks, for the save Tails," Sonic replied wincing. "Neo Metal Sonic's turned super, and it's not good. If we don't stop him, then all of Mobius will be in danger, but we can't give up now."

"Of course, we can't!" Tails replied quickly. "Also, when we came were landing on the island, I got a report, from one of G.U.N fighter pilots, spotted a giant white structure, so it means Eggman's secret weapon's probably been completed and ready to be deployed at any moment."

"Ah, that's just great, what else can go wrong?" Sonic said frowning not pleased with the news.

Super Neo Metal Sonic descended to the ground several meters away from Sonic and Tails taking in their glares knowing none of their attacks would be able to hurt him.

"The pinnacle of my foolish creator's research," Super Neo Metal Sonic said gloatingly. "It's such a shame that neither of you will be alive for much longer, due to your impending deaths."

Sonic and Tails tensed, glancing over at Eggman's prized creation who now had gained a new power, one that would undoubtedly bring Mobius to further ruin and in which the planet would be unable to regain its former glory.

* * *

Author's _note The battle between Sonic, Knuckles and the now Super Neo Metal Sonic were inspired by Sonic IDW issue 9. I loved the concept of Super Neo Metal Sonic, and I feel it's a bit of a letdown Shadow trounced him so quickly with a Chaos Spear to the chest. That's not going to be the case here since he's going to be sticking around for a couple more chapters._

 _One of the plot points which I've been planning to expand on_ _is Zerinn finally getting some character development which has slowly been growing throughout the post-war arc. Zerinn's former squadmates are far from forgiving Zerinn for his actions. You'll have to wait and see how Zerinn will be able to regain the trust of his former allies._

 _If people are curious about how the Resistance knows about Eggman's secret weapon, after years of fighting Eggman, both Sonic and Tails assume Eggman has a secret weapon waiting to be deployed in case Eggman is about to lose, passing on this information to the rest of the Resistance._

 _For those wondering how Neo Metal Sonic's message was able to appear on the Resistance ship's monitor. Shortly before overthrowing Eggman, Neo Metal Sonic, hacked into Eggman's communication system sending a pre-recorded message to the Resistance ship's monitors, before going super._

 _Don't count Eggman out of the grand scheme of things just yet. Even though Neo Metal Sonic h_ _as seized control of his creator's empire. Eggman does have a couple of tricks up his sleeve to regain control of his empire, along with the secret weapon. It's not another Death Egg Robot or another Egg Nega Wisp. I'll give you a hint, about its identity. It's based of the final stage from one of the more successful games in the series._

 _As per usual any constructive criticism/ thoughts and reviews are welcomed and appreciated. I'll see you guys back here next Wednesday for the next chapter. If you have any midterms coming within the next week, I wish you guys the best of luck with them._


	42. The battle for Angel Island part two

_Author's note. Before we get into the chapter, there are a couple of things I do want to address. If you've been checking my profile, I set up a poll who you wanted Super Sonic to face as the final fight of the Illusionary Resistance. I've closed the poll, and the results were Mecha Sonic in the last place with one vote. Neo Metal Sonic had four votes, and Eggman is the overall winner with six votes._

 _The second thing is wow over 350 reviews?. For real now I can say thank you all so much for helping this fic get over 350 reviews and reaching over 25,000 views. Thank you all so much._

 _Special thanks once again go to the Sensational SpiderDom 321 for helping me to edit this chapter. He was a great help in pointing out the accidental errors I made, I highly recommend his stories such as Queen Bee vs the Super Market, Awakened and Sonic Heroes the Atom Bomb._

 _A special shout out and thank you goes to BoomShakaLaka 2017 for favoriting and following. I genuinely appreciate the support._

 _As always thank yous go out to The Sensational SpiderDom321, Alexandria Prime, bajy, YamiChaos 27, Black Twilight Wolf and Guest for reviewing. Thank you for the reviews and support._

 _Disclaimer I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sega has full ownership of the franchise and I don't own it._

* * *

Over the roar of the battle being waged between Eggman's army and the Resistance in the distance. Super Neo Metal Sonic advanced on Sonic and Tails flexing his fingers chuckling. He felt the Master Emerald's power traveling through his circuits. Eggman's prized creation found glee, observing the despair on his enemies' faces upon seeing his new Super Form.

"Sonic, what are we going to do?" Tails asked fearfully.

"I'm gonna do what I do best, just face Senor Starfish head on!" Sonic said turning his head towards Tails. "Tails, if something bad happens to me... promise me you'll keep everyone safe."

The loud roar of Neo Metal Sonic's engine drowned out Tails' protest; Sonic spun around sprinting towards his opponent colliding with Super Neo Metal Sonic. Swiftly clasping Sonic's hands. The two enemies quickly traded blows with each other before Tails came. He lunged out with his tails and slapped Eggman's prized possession in the face.

Silver flung out one of his hands a cyan glow wrapping a boulder. He lifted it effortlessly into the air throwing and chucked it into Super Neo Metal Sonic with all his might. The robotic hedgehog glanced over his shoulder upon seeing the projectile thrown in his direction.

"It's foolish to assume a simple pebble would land a scratch on me," Super Neo Metal Sonic said gloatingly.

The robotic hedgehog momentarily released his hold on Sonic, he destroyed the boulder with ease thanks to a blast of golden energy. It sliced through the rock, he watched as small fragments rained down on the ground.

"No way, that's impossible!" Silver said shakily, staring in disbelief at the destroyed boulder.

The telekinetic barely avoided Super Neo Metal Sonic's lunge narrowly dodging the golden digits followed by the whoosh of air. Narrowly striking the fur along Silver's face.

"Yo, Metal face!" Sonic called out with a grin. "Did you forget all about me? Wow, my feelings are hurt!"

Super Neo Metal Sonic spun around, his optics observing Sonic flashing him a cocky grin.

"I will tear you to pieces my loathsome copy, if that is your wish," Super Neo Metal Sonic said.

Super Neo Metal Sonic descended towards the ground, charging for Sonic again. The Blue Blur ran to meet Super Neo Metal Sonic's collision head on, prepared to die.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow's shout rang out through the air.

Arrows made of pure Chaos energy slammed into the robotic hedgehog's hide, bouncing harmlessly off the robotic hedgehog. Super Neo Metal Sonic turned around unleashing another blast aimed at Shadow, who dodged it at the last second smirking seeing it striking the ground harmlessly.

"You sure took your time Shadow," Sonic smirked at his friend/rival. "What took you so long?"

"Now's not the time, Sonic," Shadow said tensely. "We could go super, but we don't have all seven Chaos Emeralds."

"Wait, what do you mean going Super?" Silver asked, grabbing several smaller boulders. He threw them at Super Neo Metal Sonic, who continued to dodge Silver's assault on him.

"It's when all seven Chaos Emeralds are gathered, it's when a miracle happens," Sonic explained to Silver. "I have a hunch Eggman's got the other two stashed somewhere else, where we can't get to them."

Shadow noticed a glimpse of red fur. Knuckles was running full tilt at the small group, purple eyes trained on Super Neo Metal Sonic. The echidna lunged out with one of his fists, landing a hit on Super Neo Metal Sonic, barely even leaving a scratch on Super Neo Metal Sonic's body.

"Nice try, Guardian," Super Neo Metal Sonic said gloatingly. "It's no use since none of your attacks will even be enough to damage me."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Neo," Knuckles said. "Not even Sonic can remain in his super state forever. Sooner or later, you're going to run out of the Master Emerald's power."

Super Neo Metal Sonic appeared to be scowling. Without warning, a flash of magenta appeared in patches all over Super Neo Metal Sonic's body, briefly changing his metallic body back to its normal deep blue hue before regaining its golden shade.

"What just happened to me?" Neo asked, bewildered by the sudden change. "No, it couldn't be, by absorbing that fragment of the ruby left for me on the Emerald caused this change to happen. "

Tails already figured out what had caused the sudden change within Neo. "If I had to guess, Eggman must've anticipated Neo's betrayal, by the possibility of placing something on the Master Emerald in the event Neo tried to draw on its power."

"He was a fool handing over the power of the Phantom Ruby to me, back in Metropolis," Neo said. "The power of the gem showed me the endless possibilities of what I could use to obtain even greater power, and I'll start my conquest of Mobius by claiming your lives!"

Sonic and Knuckles stood together. The latter silently handed the former his Chaos Emerald. The guardian charged again for Super Neo Metal Sonic only to be swatted aside by the force of the next blow. Shadow summoned several Chaos Arrows, flinging them in Super Neo Metal Sonic's direction.

Knuckles avoided another blast of Super Neo Metal Sonic's energy blast feeling clouds of dirt striking his shoulder. Along the edge of the battle Mecha Sonic skidded along the ground, turning his head the orange optics locked gazes with Knuckles. The robot's gaze trailed away from the guardian, fixating on the entrance to Mushroom Hill Zone.

"Knux, you don't think Mecha Sonic's going to go for the Master Emerald, do you?" Sonic asked.

"There's no way I'm going to let him draw on the Master Emerald's power again," Knuckles said clenching his fist." He'll have to get past me to do so!"

As though he heard the guardian's vow Mecha Sonic shot off in the direction of the Master Emerald. Knuckles glowered, breaking into a run-in pursuit of Mecha Sonic. The echidna caught up to Mecha Sonic, landing several punches on the robot's head. Mecha Sonic shook off the assault shaking his head glaring at Knuckles.

"If you want to draw on the power of the Master Emerald, you'll have to get past me!" Knuckles declared, taking a step forward raising both fists. Mecha Sonic silently flexed his digits, charging at Knuckles. The echidna sidestepped at the last moment, driving his spurs into Mecha Sonic's face determined to avenge his previous defeat.

"I'll hold him off, Sonic!" Knuckles called back to Sonic. "You deal with Super Neo Metal Sonic!"

Sonic nodded, allowing both Knuckles to pursue Mecha Sonic, plunging into the dense foliage, Knuckles' footsteps faded away in pursuit of his robotic adversary. Sonic seized his opportunity to attack Super Neo Metal Sonic only to get swatted off to the side.

"It's no use," Super Neo Metal Sonic said. "I've copied your Biodata, so I know everything you're going to do before you do. If you surrender, I'll make your death swift and painless."

"You're not going to win this war, Metal!" Tails said.

Tails dived towards Super Neo Metal Sonic only for the robot to lunge out, grabbing the fox by his tails before slamming him into the ground. Super Neo Metal Sonic, feeling satisfied with his work turned to ward off another of Sonic's attacks chuckling all the while.

"What makes you so sure that you will victorious?" Neo Super Metal Sonic asked.

A whistle caught Neo Metal Sonic attention. Like a specter emerging from the grave, Saber stepped forward from the edge of the tree line clasping his tomahawk determination etched onto his facial features.

"So, I see you've decided to forfeit your life at last," Super Neo Metal Sonic sneered. "I'll make your death slow and painful."

In the blink of an eye, Saber was lifted off the ground by the robotic hedgehog, thrown hard to the ground. Saber barely had time to react when a foot slammed into his abdomen, the force of the kick sent the jackal crashing into the tree.

The force of the impact knocked Saber's beret off his head the pair of Chaos Emeralds tumbled from their position onto the ground. Sonic saw Eggman's prize creation eying up the Chaos Emeralds Shadow swiftly reacted grabbing the two emeralds while Sonic raced in to grab Saber pulling him out of harm's way.

"Why did you save me?" Saber asked. "For most of the war, we were enemies. After all this time, why would you spare me?"

"It's because you may need to face justice for what you and your squad's done," Sonic replied. "Zerinn also asked me the same question too. I told him enough blood's been shed in the war. No one else deserves to die, not even you and your former squad mates."

"Don't let that tyrant get the emeralds!" Saber cried out.

"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you," Sonic replied seemingly nonplussed. "I doubt Silver will let Metal get his hands on them."

Silver yanked the two Chaos Emeralds out of the robot's grasp followed by a curse coming from Super Neo Metal Sonic's direction. Silver swiftly landed on the ground next to Sonic and Shadow, setting the Chaos Emeralds down on the ground.

Sonic nodded allowing Shadow and Silver to stand next to him. The seven Chaos Emeralds rose into the air spinning around the three hedgehogs. Silently, Sonic, Shadow and Silver rose into the air; the golden glow surrounding them. Silver stared down at his hands feeling the energy of the Chaos Emeralds flowing through his body turning his fur from an ivory white to a creamy yellow color.

"This is incredible! I never even thought I'd even be able to tap into the power of the Chaos Emeralds," Silver said in awe, his voice upon witnessing his transformation. "This nothing like the journals described!"

A bright flash of light exploded around the area, with Sonic, Shadow and Silver landed on the ground, a golden aura surrounding the three hedgehogs. Saber's jaw dropped open at the sight of the three super-powered hedgehogs.

"It's incredible," Saber breathed out. "I'd heard rumors of the Chaos Emeralds being able to perform miracles, I never expected to see it in person!"

Sonic turned to face Super Neo Metal Sonic smirking upon seeing his robotic counterpart stiffen swiftly, raising a hand firing of another blast. Super Sonic avoided the blast, chuckling as he did so.

"Whoops! Missed me, Metal!" Super Sonic called out, taunting his robotic counterpart. The hedgehog darted away in the skies his robotic counterpart in hot pursuit followed by Super Silver and Super Shadow.

On the ground, Saber was caught up in the sight until a light tug on his arm drew his attention to Tails looking back at him with a determined expression on his face. Saber took note of the fox's determination, it almost reminded him of Zerinn in a way.

"So, then I take it you have a plan fox?" Saber asked.

"Tails, my names is Tails," Tails replied, slightly hostile. "As a matter of fact, I do. I'll need you to come with me though. It may be the one chance we have to stop both Eggman and Metal Sonic."

Saber hurried after the fox his mind already pouring over the possibilities of the plan the young fox had in mind. Even though Saber wouldn't admit it, he had to admire the young fox's intelligence especially after the trick he pulled on him in Metropolis.

* * *

Zerinn raced through the dense forest undergrowth, feeling branches raking across his fur. His footsteps heavy with exhaustion fully aware of Quartz and Nephthys silently following him. Eggman's former ally felt Nephthys' hostile glare on his back.

"Maybe if you got a limb robotized, perhaps it would make me feel better about the whole thing," Quartz snarled. "If we survive this madhouse, perhaps you should get it stamped with the words world's worst weakest mercenary."

Zerinn stiffened, feeling an urge to turn around to sock Quartz right in the jaw, pulling his lips back readying a fist until Nephthys stepped in between them holding up her hands keeping the two irate jackals at bay.

"That's enough from both of you!" Nephthys yelled. "Look, Quartz, you're rightfully pissed with Zerinn. So am I, but for now we have to play nice with Zerinn until we get out of this mess."

Quartz shoved past Zerinn his ears pricking upon hearing the sounds of battle. The jackal put on a burst of speed racing to the edge of the forest's clearing his amber eyes focusing on the robots in midst of battle they spotted Gadget holding his own in the raging battle all around him his back pressed up against Mikhail's.

"Stay strong everyone!" Mikhail's shout could be heard over the battlefield. "Don't let the robots' breakthrough of defenses!"

"Stand together!" Gadget cried out, hoping to encourage several of the Resistance members who looked ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble. The robots began to close in forcing the Resistance members into a near gridlock.

Sahara glanced around the area, gritting her teeth swinging out her lightning Wispon destroying several robots. "There's way too many of them to hold off!"

Chaser swung out his Burst Wispon unleashing a stream of fire onto several robots, smirking in satisfaction watching them melt to a pile of destroyed robot parts. "All we can do now is to keep repelling their forces, and we'll be able to make a path to ensure those who can't fight will be able to escape."

Gadget was knocked back his amber eyes noticing Zerinn, Nephthys and Quartz racing down the hill the jackal lunged out with his fist punching a robot, the force of Zerinn's punch left a dent on the robot's head before kicking out at the robot sending crashing to the ground.

"Zerinn! You're alright!" Kaito's shout of joy echoed over the area, as the young jackal raced over to Zerinn. Relief on his face before sweeping his brother into a tight embrace, nearly knocking him off his feet wrapping his arms around Zerinn holding him tightly.

"Kaito, I'm glad to see you too, but you're cutting off my oxygen," Zerinn wheezed.

Kaito willingly released Zerinn from the hold. Kaito paused, taking in the sight of the bald patch of fur on his brother's chest, along with a couple of faint lines marking the outline where Zerinn's shattered ruby formerly resided.

"Zerinn, your ruby… it's gone!" Kaito exclaimed in shock running his fingers over the bald patch of fur on Zerinn's chest.

"Yeah, yeah I know. I drew on whatever power it had left to escape from Eggman's forces," Zerinn said. "It would've been better if I'd killed the fat bastard but making him lose a valuable asset is good enough."

The jackal raced over to Gadget, slamming into the robot. Years of mercenary training kicking in destroying the robot until it collapsed to the ground small sparks, erupting from its shattered metal body. Zerinn looked up, meeting Gadget's eyes. The wolf looked back at him a sense of relief in his eyes, although he still maintained a defensive stance.

"Zerinn, thank you," Gadget said relief palatable in his tone of voice. "This still doesn't change anything for the horrible crimes you've committed, but I'm glad to see you're okay."

Mikhail turned to face Zerinn hostility etched on his face his fingers flexing as though he longed to strangle Zerinn where he stood. "If you hurt Gadget, I'll put an end to you myself."

Zerinn snorted, turning to face the hostile glares Chaser and Sahara gave to him before racing back into the fray. He was determined to protect the volunteer resistance soldiers. "Yeah, Yeah, I got it. No one trusts me yet. For now, let's get out of this mess and we can solve this whole problem."

Quartz briefly nodded charging into the fray Nephthys hot on his heels. Mikhail exchanged a look with Gadget. Gadget saw Zerinn fighting alongside Kaito, handing off one of his daggers to Zerinn the pair of half-brothers fought alongside each other.

"I hope he doesn't turn on us again," Mikhail said warily. "If he does, I will put an end to his life once and for all."

"Zerinn knows there's no point in betraying us at this point," Gadget replied to Mikhail. "Besides, it's like Zerinn said once we've won this fight, then we can decide what to do with the rest of the Jackal Squad once and for all."

Feeling a new resolve to win the battle to reclaim Angel Island, both Gadget and Mikhail resumed fighting alongside their fellow Resistance soldiers, determined to not lose the battle to save the floating island.

* * *

Within his prison Eggman settled back on his hard bench looking at several monitors showing images of Super Silver, Shadow and Sonic engaging Super Neo Metal Sonic grinning madly upon seeing his prize creation developing a brief magenta glow. Eggman allowed a chuckle to slip forth from his lips. He was observing the fights on the monitors from his position in his cell.

Eggman heard a pair of voices. Orbot and Cubot hovered over to Eggman's cell. Orbot quickly typed in a combination, hearing the door open allowing Eggman to exit cell stretching out his limbs easily.

"Boss, I hate to say I told you so, but I knew Metal was going to betray us," Orbot said. "I mean it's not the first time, he's betrayed you. Honestly, when you first recruited Infinite, I was sure he would turn on you sooner or later. What made you feel so confident that Metal wasn't going to betray you again?"

"I had a feeling leaving that shard of Infinite's shattered ruby on top of the Master Emerald would be an excellent idea," Eggman gloated to Orbot and Cubot. "My calculations were correct by guessing the Phantom Ruby's power would be incompatible with the Master Emerald's power."

"Wait, so you had a backup plan this whole time to deal with Neo in case he betrayed you," Orbot said thoughtfully. "I can only assume you're going to activate it then."

"Of course, I am! It may have lost ninety percent of its combat data. However, this time, I've modified it so that it can crush that hedgehog once and for all!" Eggman exclaimed. "Besides, I have a theory that when Metal ripped the Phantom Ruby shard from Kaito's chest back in Metropolis, I suspect the ruby interfered with Metal's programming giving him this rebellious streak."

"Oh, so you're not going to turn us into a pile of scrap since we were nice enough to let you out?" Cubot asked nicely.

"You would make terrible piles of scrap, and you know it," Eggman replied dismissively. "Come on! The glorious rebirth of the Eggman Empire is right around the corner!"

Eggman followed Orbot and Cubot up the stairs, feeling the cold nighttime air on his skin. He could hear the distant sounds of the battle raging in the distance. Eggman ran through the Mushroom Hill Zone, coming to a small clearing. The white cloth covering his secret weapon glowed in the moonlight giving the mad scientist hope, he would be able to succeed in destroying Sonic once and for all.

Eggman breathed in feeling nothing, but satisfaction with the notion within a few short hours all of Mobius would soon be under his control, once more and this time Sonic wouldn't be able to stop him.

* * *

Author's _note There are some points I do want to clear up in case people are confused. The reason for Metal Sonic's betrayal to Eggman is becuase when he came into contact with the fragment of the Phantom Ruby he removed from Kaito, he experienced a vision the ruby showed him a world stripped of all organic life with him ruling over it._

 _At this point even though Zerinn is for the moment working alongside the volunteer Resistance members, both Gadget and Mikhail still don't trust him nor have they forgiven him for his role in the war. There are plans to resolve Zerinn's arc which will be put into action soon._

 _The reason Saber is so willing to work with Tails is that he has some form of respect towards the fox's intelligence. Once he realized the fox lied to him about the bomb detonating in Metropolis he realized the fox was_ smarter _then he let on._

 _As per usual constructive criticism/ thoughts/ reviews are welcomed and appreciated. I'll talk to you guys then with the next chapter which will be coming in early February. The reason for this unfortunate delay is because I'll be having a minor facial operation during this coming week. Here's hoping you guys have a good weekend and stay safe._


	43. The battle for Angel Island part three

_Author's note Sorry for the delay with this one. I've had to take my laptop in on Wednesday, due to it suffering a minor technical fault along with me being asked to help out with a fundraiser this past Saturday. Before we get into the chapter if you all recall I did set up a poll asking people who they thought Eggman's secret weapon would be. The results for the poll are now in._

 _There were three votes for the Egg Dragoon._

 _There were two votes for the Egg Emperor and Titanic Monarch._

 _Lastly, there was one vote for Egg Viper._

 _Thank you all for voting. Eggman is going to unveil his secret weapon in this chapter since I hope people enjoy the reveal. Its not the Egg Dragoon since Eggman already said he wasn't going to use it. Also, after this chapter, there will only be three chapters remaining. Well, it's been quite the ride with the next chapter being the final part and the last two chapters will be the epilogue wrapping up the story._

 _Despite all the delays and all the accidental errors I've made with this story, from the bottom of my heart, I wish to thank everyone's who has stuck with this story for so long. Just by viewing, clicking the favorite/ follow button, the support for this story has been amazing to see._

 _As always I'd_ like to _extend my thanks to, TGN, SD321, Anonymous, Alexandria Prime, Balck Twilight Wolf, Yami Chaos 27 and bajy for leaving reviews. Thank you all for the support._

 _Special thanks to kingdom hearts guy for leaving a favorite and follow on this story. Thank you so much for your support. I genuinely appreciate it_.

Disclaimer I will never own Sonic the Hedgehog and I never will be. Sega owns Sonic the Hedgehog.

* * *

High in the skies above Angel Island, Super Sonic made another desperate lunge towards Super Neo Metal Sonic and the two of them collided with each other. Super Neo Metal Sonic locked hands with Sonic, his red optics boring holes into Sonic's soul. The unspoken years of enmity lingered behind the intensity of the robot's red gaze. The two of them shot over the battlefield where the Resistance continued to fight back against the Eggman Empire.

The roar of Super Neo Metal Sonic's engine prompted Omega to turn his head as he noticed the flash of the golden robotic hedgehog charging towards the Resistance. "Sensors indicate Metal Sonic is in visual range! Subject Metal Sonic has been scheduled for immediate termination!"

Omega unleashed his arsenal of a hail of bullets and rocket launchers in a storm of explosive destruction racing through the air towards Eggman's prize creation. Super Neo Metal Sonic turned his head, throwing up his Black Sheild protecting him from the onslaught of explosives. With a wave of his hand, the shield disappeared, prompting Super Neo Metal Sonic to glance down at the Resistance.

"Foolish mortals, did you even think you could stand up to me?" Super Neo Metal Sonic sneered. "Come at me and show me what you're all made of!"

"Challenge accepted you metal freak!" Charmy exclaimed. The bee ascended into the air stinger, extended as he prepared to land a sting on Super Neo Metal Sonic. The robot raised a hand swatting the bee. The force of the blow, coupled with the sharp tips of Super Neo Metal Sonic's digits scored a direct hit on the bee knocking him out of the sky.

Sonic gritted his teeth feeling his blood beginning to boil as he witnessed his robotic counterpart attacking Charmy. "That's low, Metal! I'll make you regret that!"

Super Sonic charged again for Super Neo Metal Sonic, locking hands with him before throwing Super Sonic away from him.

Espio turned to face Super Neo Metal Sonic, clasping a pair of shurikens in his fingers before throwing them at him. The chameleon frowned as he watched them deflect off Eggman's prized creation. "Don't attack him! Your attacks won't work on him!" Espio cried out.

Several Resistance members chose to ignore Espio's warning unleashing, their Wispons on Super Neo Metal Sonic. In response, the hedgehog threw up his black shield causing the attacks to bounce harmlessly of the shield, until the robot waved his hand causing the shield to disappear.

"All of you pathetic organic lifeforms have just sealed your fate," Super Neo Metal Sonic said coldly.

In an instant, Eggman's creation unleashed several balls of dark energy raining down onto the battlefield and killing the Resistance members who'd attacked him first. Super Sonic landed several furious kicks on Super Neo Metal Sonic, wrestling him to the ground. The two super forms slammed into the ground sending up clouds of dirt and rocks into the air and creating a deep furrow in the soil.

"If you surrender, your death will be swift and merciful," Super Neo Metal Sonic said menacingly.

"Not a chance Metal!" Super Sonic grinned, finding the strength to throw of his attacker. Silver charged in, holding several small boulders throwing them with all his might at Super Neo Metal Sonic. The force of the boulders slammed into Sonic's robotic counterpart nearly, knocking him off his feet.

"How dare you, you insect," Super Neo Metal Sonic said menacingly. "I will prevail, and Mobius will fall under my reign!"

The robot opened his hand, unleashing another blast of light aimed at Super Sonic. Super Sonic's reflexes saved him at the last second as he turned to face his robotic counterpart with a grin.

"It's not over until the fat Eggman sings, Metal," Sonic said with a grin. "Let's settle this hedgehog to robotic hedgehog!"

Super Neo Metal Sonic glowered upon seeing Super Shadow unleashing several powered Chaos Spears at him. Eggman's creation avoided the attack and turned to face his enemies, his digits flexing, eager to sink them into any one of the powered up hedgehogs. Once the power of the Chaos Emeralds wore off, which would leave Sonic, Shadow and Silver vulnerable to his attacks. When the time came, Super Neo Metal Sonic vowed to end their lives.

* * *

Knuckles raced through the foliage, his breath coming out in short, sharp gasps, twigs cracking underneath his feet, as the roar of Mecha Sonic's engine announced the robotic hedgehog's presence. Without warning, Mecha Sonic erupted from the bushes his fingers, reaching out for the echidna's face. Knuckles swiftly knocked Mecha Sonic's hand away from his face.

"This time you won't even get to the Master Emerald!" Knuckles said. "I'll punch you into little pieces before you lay a hand on it!"

Knuckles landed several punches on Mecha Sonic, the punches sending Mecha Sonic backwards crashing through the foliage. Mecha Sonic righted himself glancing, over his shoulder at the entrance to the Hidden Palace Zone. Knuckles felt his heartbeat begin to increase along with the adrenaline rushing through his veins as he noticed his enemy pushing himself off the ground, his red eyes trained on the echidna.

"Take one more step and you'll be leaving Angel Island in pieces!" Knuckles threatened Mecha Sonic. The robotic hedgehog shot off towards the entrance of the Hidden Palace Zone. Knuckles glowered racing down the steps in hot pursuit of Mecha Sonic.

"Even if you do go super, you won't have the Jackal Squad backing you up this time!" Knuckles said defiantly. "This time I'll find a way to beat you!"

Knuckles raced into the Master Emerald chamber his worst fears were confirmed, seeing Super Mecha Sonic rising of the Master Emerald, an orange aura surrounding him. Eggman's creation wasted no time diving down towards Knuckles, who rolled at the last second, turning to face the golden robotic hedgehog hovering in the air.

"Alright then, if that's how you want to play, that's fine with me," Knuckles said raising his fists and preparing to make the next strike. He wouldn't be forced to run away this time. Super Mecha Sonic charged for him again, lashing out to grab Knuckles.

"I won't fall for any of your tricks again Mecha!" Knuckles said. The echidna recalled the last time he'd fought Super Mecha Sonic years ago in Sky Sanctuary. It was only a matter of time before Mecha Sonic's super state would wear off, giving Knuckles a window of opportunity to strike.

As though fate was on his side, Knuckles saw the golden hue vanish from Mecha Sonic, the robot dropped to the ground. With no hesitation, Knuckles leaped up landing a blow on Mecha Sonic's face and causing him to crash to the ground, his claws leaving marks on the polished emerald green floors.

"That's right, I will destroy you if you set one foot on the Master Emerald again," Knuckles said.

Mecha Sonic glanced at Knuckles. Silently accepting his challenge the robot raced back to the Master Emerald landing on the surface of it and once more digging his claws into the top of the green Emerald's surface, glowing gold once more before ascending through the open skylight. Knuckles glowered turning around sprinting back the way he came. This time he would avenge his previous defeat at the hands of Mecha Sonic.

* * *

Tails paused at the edge of the clearing with Saber not too far behind him, the jackal clasping his tomahawk and risking a glance at the sky where he saw Super Shadow hurl several powerful Chaos Arrows at Super Neo Metal Sonic. In the distance, he could see the Resistance gaining an advantage over Eggman's army. Destroyed robots lay scattered all over the ground.

"So, remind me again what your brilliant plan is?" Saber inquired.

"It's simple, the power of the Phantom Ruby is incompatible with the Master Emerald's energy," Tails replied. "If only we had another shard of the Phantom Ruby and find a way to use it against Super Neo Metal Sonic, its to depower him to give Sonic and the others a chance to strike."

Saber understood the meaning behind Tails'words his fingers tracing the shard of the ruby around his neck. The jackal didn't need a long time to think about his decision. A pair of fingers unhooked the pendant from around his neck, holding it out to Tails.

"Here you need this more then I do," Saber said quietly. "In my former leader's place, I would like to apologize on behalf of the Jackal Squad for our actions during the war."

Tails reached out of the gem, Saber pushing it into the palm of his hand. The gem felt warm and light in the palm of the fox's hand. "Saber, thank you so much. I'll fly up there and see what I can to help. You're going to stay here and help everyone else fend of what's left oF Eggman's army."

Saber watched the fox ascending into the air, turning his attention to the battlefield. A small sigh of relief escaped his lips as he spotted Quartz, Nephthys and Kaito fighting alongside Gadget and Mikhail. The pair of wolves worked well together, alongside a coyote and a maned wolf he'd never seen before.

"Stay close to me and push their forces back!" Zerinn's shout echoed through the air. It was then he noticed Zerinn engaging in combat with an Egg Pawn. He spied Rouge high in the air, throwing out several small bombs destroying several robots, a shower of robotic parts raining down on top of the Resistance fighters.

"Saber, get over here now!" Quartz's shout cut through the air. Saber rushed over to aid his friends in the fighting a glower forming on his face making eye contact with Zerinn, who took a step back uncertainty appear on his face.

"Saber, I know you're not pleased to see me," Zerinn said. "Look, I'm not asking for your forgiveness, but for now we'll have to work together, to make sure we'll survive this fight."

"That's fine with me," Saber said. "I will say for our actions in the war, we'll have to all face whatever punishment the citizens of Mobius will have in store for us."

The two jackals nodded having, agreed to work together. Saber risked a glance over his shoulder seeing expressions of relief on both Gadget and Mikhail's faces upon realization Saber was safe, fighting alongside them once more.

Saber felt his heart sink spotting Tails in the air, flying closer to Super Neo Metal Sonic, holding out his shard of the Phantom Ruby close to Super Neo Metal Sonic. At once the robot jerked his golden hue sporting a couple of magenta patches, aiming a swat at Tails who flew out of the way.

"You little pest you'll pay for that! " Super Neo Metal Sonic said lashing out at Tails only for the fox to dodge his attack at the last second lashing out with his tails scoring a direct hit on Super Metal Sonic.

"Yeah, well your super form's starting to wear of Metal!" Tails said with a grin.

Super Neo Metal Sonic glanced down at his arm noticing with dismay the golden sheen fading away from his arm Super Sonic seized his opportunity to charge into Super Neo Metal Sonic sending his robotic counter crashing into the ground.

Before Super Metal Sonic had time to recover from Super Sonic's attack, Zerinn landed a kick on him the force of the impact barely left a dent, but causing the robot to stagger crashing to the ground and leaving an imprint in the soil.

Zerinn noticed both Mikhail and Gadget raced in, for the next assault landing blows on Super Neo Metal Sonic with their Wispons. Kaito stood next to Zerinn shifting his weight from foot to foot. "Jackal Squad move in for the kill!"

Zerinn's shout echoed over the battlefield. Quartz, Saber, Kaito and Nephthys raced in landing, blows on Super Neo Metal Sonic, only to retreat when Eggman's creation lashed out with his golden digits, feeling something heavy slam into the top of his head. The robot turned to glare at Amy swiftly stepping out of reach, her glare focusing on the robot.

"I won't let you kidnap me again!" Amy said. "We'll help Knuckles reclaim his home!"

Super Neo Metal Sonic stepped back avoiding her hammer. He barely had time to react feeling Rouge landed a drill kick on the base of his head. Tails landed on the ground and striking out with his tails striking Eggman's prize creation in his face. The Chaotix contributed to the assault. Super Neo Metal Sonic turned on his heel unable to deal with the massive assault, with so many Mobians attacking him from all sides.

Super Neo Metal Sonic barely had time to register who was attacking him before the Jackal Squad rushed at him feeling their weapons grazing his body. The robot noticed several jackals retreating from him, barely avoiding grabbed by his claws. The robot risked a glance at his body noticing with disdain patches of blue metal appearing in gold patches over his body.

"No, this cannot be!" Super Neo Metal Sonic exclaimed in disbelief. "I will not be defeated once again! Mobius will be mine to conquer, and I will end my loathsome copy's life once and for all!"

Super Neo Metal Sonic ascended into the air with Super Sonic and Shadow pursuing Super Neo Metal Sonic. Eggman's creation spun around in midair to face down the two super-powered hedgehogs noticing Shadow crossing his arms.

"You fools, do you think even with your super forms you could stop me?" Super Neo Metal Sonic asked.

"Hmph, faker and I could easily take you down and you know it," Super Shadow said. "Chaos Arrow!"

Super Neo Metal Sonic felt the hail of super-powered arrows striking him from everywhere. When the assault finished Eggman's creation turned around to see Super Sonic charging into him subjecting him to a flurry of punches and kicks. The force of each kick propelled Super Neo Metal Sonic, higher into the air leaving him defenseless until Super Sonic grabbed Super Neo Metal Sonic by arm, throwing him down towards the ground smirking in satisfaction watching the small crater forming in the ground.

"That should be it for Super Neo Metal Sonic," Super Sonic said with a grin.

Metal Sonic crashed to the ground skidding a few times before lying still on the ground on his side. In a flash of white light, Metal Sonic had regained his original form. In silent disbelief, the robot gazed down at his hands.

Unknown to Metal Sonic, the shard of the Phantom Ruby tumbled out from the hole in his chest, several cracks running along the length of it until it shattered. Metal Sonic rolled over onto his feet turning to face Sonic running his hands over his body. The robot's optics widened in shock noticing he'd resumed his usual appearance. before he turned to face Super Sonic raising a fist shaking it at him.

"Love you too Metal!" Super Sonic called out with a grin. "This was fun let's do it again sometime!"

"It's over right?" Super Silver asked.

"No, it's not over," Super Shadow said. "I can only assume Knuckles is still dealing with Mecha Sonic. We may have beaten Metal Sonic, but there's been no sign of Eggman or his secret weapon."

Super Sonic glanced down, noticing movement coming from the tall object shrouded in a white cloth. The hedgehog tensed his usual smile fading from his face his fists clenching his instincts screaming at him something wasn't right. On the ground, he spotted Metal Sonic hurrying over to the far side of the meadow they'd been fighting in with Orbot and Cubot.

Tails hovering next to Super Sonic noticed a flash of gold through the small hole in the fabric.

"Sonic! Look out, Eggman's secret weapon is-"

A giant golden lance ripped through the white cloth, the tip stabbing blindly into the air. Super Sonic barely avoided the tip of the lance piercing his chest. Tails flew out of the way feeling the rush of air coming from the lance. The hedgehog clenched his fists noticing another golden hand reaching up to rip away the tattered cloth and flinging it off its body. The Egg Emperor ascended into the air the giant shield mounted on its arm, the lance clasped in its right hand.

"The Egg Emperor," Super Sonic said gritting his teeth at the unwelcome sight. "I thought Eggman scrapped that design after he saw how ineffective it was when Metal Sonic used it the last time he took over Eggman's empire."

The Egg Emperor lunged for Sonic again determined to stab the hedgehog in the heart. Super Sonic avoided the blow diving for the Eggman Emperor. The robot quickly raised its shield. The gesture was futile for Sonic plowed into the shield, the force of his attack caused the shield to break in half. The Egg Emperor stood before Sonic, Eggman grinning at him from his position in the cockpit.

"Gotcha! You all assumed I would resort to using the Egg Dragoon once more," Eggman said gloatingly. "We all know the Egg Dragoon's been overused too many times. I wasn't going to sit around while you dealt with my rouge creation did you?"

"Aren't you getting a little tired of this I have a secret weapon thing already?" Super Sonic asked with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Ah, but where's the fun in it if I don't have a secret weapon that would be the end of you," Eggman asked with a sinister grin. "Besides, I was saving this for a special occasion. Such as reconquering Mobius!"

The Egg Emperor rose into the air facing down the three Super powered Hedgehogs. Silently Super Sonic glanced over at Shadow and Silver who silently nodded to each other and following Super Sonic into the sky in pursuit of the Egg Emperor. The final showdown had finally arrived, and Super Sonic knew they had to win the war at all costs, for if they didn't Mobius would fall into ruin.

* * *

Author's _note Well then, you all thought the Egg Dragoon was Eggman's secret weapon, didn't you? To the two people who correctly guessed the Egg Emperor congratulations, Egg Emperor is the correct answer._

 _Originally I planned to have Knuckles conclude his fight with Super Mecha Sonic, but I figured it would've taken away the focus from the fight with Super Metal Sonic, along with the reveal of the Egg Emperor. Knuckles will conclude his fight with Mecha Sonic in the next chapter._

 _There are a couple of things I will clear up in case people are curious as to why Saber and Zerinn are working together it doesn't mean Saber hasn't forgiven Zerinn for his crimes. The sole reason Saber is willing to fight alongside his former leader for now is mostly becuase they both share the same goal of defeating Eggman's forces._

 _Also during the fight with Super Neo Metal Sonic, Eggman snuck into the Egg Emperor when no one was looking, which is why he is already piloting one of his prized creations._

 _As always constructive criticism/ thoughts/ reviews are appreciated and welcome as always. I will see you guys sometime next week with the final boss fight of the Illusionary Resistance. Here's hoping that everyone here on this site has a great rest of the week, and I will see you guys next time._


	44. The battle for Angel Island part four

_Author's note Hi there. I'm back once more to give you guys a new chapter. This chapter for me personally was one of my favorites to write up since it's action-packed leading up to the finale of this fic. We're almost at the end of this long journey, I want to thank everyone who has left a favorite, follow or by even viewing this story, you have shown support for this story. I_ _genuinely hope people enjoy the final battle._

 _As always thanks go to TGN, SD321, Alexandria Prime, bajy, Yami Chaos 27, Sharp Dragon Klaw, Turquoise Triangle_ and _Black Twilight Wolf. I genuinely appreciate the support._

 _Disclaimer I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog Sega does. The only thing I can take credit for is this rewrite and my original characters._

* * *

The Egg Emperor rose into the skies. From his position in the cockpit, Eggman risked a glance seeing the golden hedgehogs still pursuing him. The mad scientist allowed a maniacal grin, of course, Sonic and his foolish friends would continue their reckless pursuit, a trait that was bound to get one of them killed one of these days.

"Get a load of this!" Eggman cried out pressing one of the buttons along the console.

In response several hatches opened along the Egg Emperor's shoulders and several rockets launched into the air heading straight for Super Sonic. The hedgehog smirked, dodging, the rockets hearing the wind whooshing through his quills and feeling the heat grazing the tips of his quills.

Super Sliver, with a flick of his wrist, lifted up several rockets surrounding them in a golden glow flung them effortlessly back at the Egg Emperor. Eggman silently inputted commands into the console promoting the Egg Emperor to raise it's shield the hail of rockets slamming into it leaving several dents along the shield's surface.

"Gah! Watch where you're throwing those rockets! I just had this shield polished three days ago!"

"Is that best you can do, Eggface?" Super Sonic asked with a cheeky grin.

Eggman glowered, banging one fist against the console. The mad scientist gritted his teeth in anger, feeling the urge to wipe the smirk of Sonic's face once and for all. Oh, how he longed to beat Sonic and parade his broken and bruised body through the streets of his newly rebuilt Eggman Empire.

"Oh, I'm far from done, you meddlesome rodent," Eggman said chuckling. "I don't even need the power of the Phantom Ruby anymore! I'd rather defeat you the old-fashioned way."

Super Sonic's heart sank at the mention of the gem. The Egg Emperor made another lunge with the giant tipped lance nearly skewering Super Silver.

The sudden movement caught the telekinetic hedgehog off guard. On the Egg Emperor's second assault Super Silver felt the full force of the Egg Emperor's shield slam into his face the force of the blow sending him tumbling through the air until he regained his balance.

"Silver, are you okay?!" Super Sonic cried out rushing to his ally's aid and holding out his hand to steady Super Silver in the air.

"I'm fine Sonic, we need to stop Eggman from winning this war no matter what the cost is!" Super Silver replied.

Super Sonic cast a worried glance at Super Silver noticing patches of white fur showing through the bright yellow fur.

"Super forms don't last forever Silver," Super Sonic said. "We need to end this fight against Eggman quickly before our we lose our Super forms."

Super Silver nodded making a holding out his hands a golden glow wrapped around the Egg Emperor holding it into place. Presenting Super Sonic another opportunity to land another hit on the Egg Emperor.

The Egg Emperor made a desperate lunge for Super Shadow unleashing a hail of Chaos Arrows racing through the air. The Egg Emperor maneuvering away from the hail of arrows, turning around in mid-air firing off another round of missiles at Super Shadow the super-powered hedgehog avoided the onslaught of missiles.

The super powered hedgehog put on another burst of speed in pursuit of the Egg Emperor while risking a glance down at the ground to see how the rest of the Resistance were faring against the might of Eggman's forces.

He spied Tails lashing out with his feet effortlessly destroying several Buzz Bombers. The Chaotix easily dispatching a wave of Motobugs, Rouge and Omega easily destroying several Egg Pawns. He spied Gadget and Mikhail fighting alongside the Jackal Squad working together.

The loud roar of the G.U.N fighter jets caught Super Shadow's attention. He saw two of them breaking off from the formation making a beeline towards the Egg Emperor. The hedgehog watched horrified seeing them firing at the Egg Emperor in a futile effort to slow down the massive robot.

In response the Egg Emperor lunged forward the tip of its lance skewering the fighter jets through the cockpits, swiftly withdrawing it leaving the planes crashing on the island's ground clouds of black smoke rising up marking the spots where the pilots had met their end. Super Sonic noticed the pilot's demise turning to face the Egg Emperor scowling.

"You won't get away with taking away more lives Eggman," Super Sonic said.

"I'd like to see you try rodent, get a load of this!"

Super Sonic dodged another hail of missiles, seeing the rockets striking the ground leaving behind several small craters embedded in the soil. the hedgehog landed a homing attack right in the center of the Egg Emperors chest causing the robot to stagger before it righted itself.

The Egg Emperor made another lunge with its lance. This time the tip grazed along Super Sonic's left shoulder slicing over several quills. A wave of pain rolled throughout Super Sonic's body causing the hedgehog to gasp out in pain noticing the golden hue slowly beginning to disappear from his fur.

"Well, Sonic it looks like you're running out of energy to maintain your super form," Eggman said with a dark chuckle. "I can keep evading you forever, right until your super form goes bye-bye. I'm going to enjoy making the last few moments of your life as painful as I can."

Super Sonic glowered there was no way he would let Eggman reclaim Mobius, not while he lived and breathed. The Egg Emperor pivoted in the air raising its shield once more deflecting several Chaos Spears coming from Shadow's direction before ramming the shield in the direction of the hedgehog only to narrowly miss Super Shadow.

"Oh, this fight's far from over!" Eggman exclaimed gleefully. "Just watch this!"

The Egg Emperor began to swing its lance forward in fast furious strokes. Crescent-shaped red energy waves erupted from the lance tearing through the air towards the super powered hedgehogs, Super Sonic and Super Shadow ducked and weaved through the lance's energy blasts narrowly avoiding being struck by the energy waves.

Super Shadow turned his head and risking a glance down at his arm noticing patches of black fur appearing on his body grimacing at the unwelcome sight.

"Sonic, we need to end this quickly!" Shadow's voice cut through the air. The super powered hedgehog opened the palm of his hand once more building upon the Chaos Energy as the ball of light began to build up in the palm of his hand.

"Chaos Spear!"

The bolts of Chaos energy tore through the skies. In response to the new threat, the Egg Emperor raised it's shield only this time a golden glow surrounded the shield as Super Silver grunting with all his might tore the shield right of its arm. The sound of snapping wires, tearing metal shrieked through the air leaving Eggman's prized mech exposed to the onslaught of the Chaos Spears for the first time.

"Yeah! That's how it's done!" Super Sonic exclaimed with a wide grin on his face.

The Egg Emperor stumbled backward from the impact. Small black clouds rose up into the air leaking from several small holes along the Egg Emperor's armor. The robot's fingers faltered holding onto the lance. From his position in the interior of the Egg Emperor's cockpit, Eggman glared at the red flashing lights his gaze drawn to the small computer screen.

"Egg Emperor has sustained 75% combat damage. The shield has been destroyed, the lance has sustained 75% combat damage. Power levels decreasing. At this rate destruction of the Egg Emperor is imminent."

Eggman glowered, banging his hands on the console in pure frustration and anger at his current situation. He'd been so close, he'd almost succeeded in his plan to reclaim Mobius if it hadn't been for Metal Sonic's betrayal.

A sudden jolt sent Eggman crashing back against his seat in the cockpit. Form his position he saw a flash of fur. Super Sonic turned to flash Eggman a cocky smile before darting out of range of the last moment. Eggman's blood began to boil at the sight of Sonic.

"Oh, how I hate that hedgehog, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him!" Eggman ranted pushing hard on the Egg Emperor's controls urging the Egg Emperor to lunge out with its lance chuckling in glee. This time the lance knocked Super Silver out of the sky. The force of the blow sent the telekinetic hedgehog crashing to the ground.

Silver pushed himself to his feet wincing, as the golden glow leaving his fur as the last traces of his super form faded away. The hedgehog felt exhausted, almost stumbling, his hands resting against the edge of the nearest tree the rough bark underneath the palm of his hand.

"I've done the best I can," Silver said glancing up at the sky watching Super Sonic and Shadow in pursuit of the Egg Emperor thick, clouds of black smoke pouring out of holes.

"Hah one down and two more insufferable pests to go!" Eggman said feeling glee at having defeated one of his enemies.

The Egg Emperor, jolted once more from the impact of the Chaos Spears slamming into the metal Armor of the Egg Emperor. Eggman looked up in disbelief seeing the damage counter increasing from 75% to 85% percent the alarms blaring even louder.

"Egg Emperor has sustained critical damage!" The tinny voice echoed throughout the cockpit. "Preparing emergency escape sequence for Egg Mobile!"

"What?! That's impossible, I designed this Egg Emperor to withstand even the most strenuous of battle damage, it can't fail on me now!"

A loud hum echoed all over the interior of the Egg Emperor. Eggman didn't have to turn his head to see the hatch at the back of the Egg Emperor opening exposing the pale hues of the early morning sky. Eggman glowered feeling the Egg Mobile lurching backwards.

"Yo Eggman!" Super Sonic cried out.

Eggman glowered turning his attention towards the front of the cockpit and noticing Super Sonic racing towards him preparing to unleash one last attack on the Egg Emperor.

"Oh how I hate that hedgehog, I hate him, hate him!" Eggman bellowed in pure frustration pounding his fists against the console of the Egg Mobile. In the blink of an eye, Eggman reached out for a big red button slamming his fist down onto it.

In response, the Egg Emperor lowered its lance opening its mouth wide a small cannon mounted began to charge up a bright yellow glow forming at the tip of the cannon.

"Let's see you last through this one Sonic!" Eggman chuckled gleefully. The Egg Mobile rose into the air shooting out of the back of the Egg Emperor ascending high up to witness the possible demise of Sonic an event Eggman longed to see unfold before his eyes seeing the laster heading right for Super Sonic.

Super Sonic grinned, plowing through the laser like a hot knife through butter. He was dimly aware of Super Shadow racing alongside him charging right through the laser to land the final blow on the Egg Emperor. Sonic was aware of the lance shattering in half, severing wires that held the mech together. The two Super powered hedgehogs completed their charge turning around to watch the Egg Emperor explode in a massive fireball.

"That's the Egg Emperor down for the count!" Super Sonic cried out his sides, heaving with the effort of the fight, Super Shadow appeared next to him. The two super hedgehogs descended towards the ground, their Super forms finally wore of leaving both hedgehogs to regain their normal fur colour.

The blazing wreckage of the Egg Emperor fell from the sky, Silver hurried over to them a small tired smile on his face silently glancing at the falling wreckage, his mouth parting eager to ask the question he longed to ask.

"So, it's over for real?" Silver asked.

"Yeah, this time it's over for real," Sonic said with a grin. "Usually this is the part where Eggman calls it quits and then retreats to plan out his next big takeover scheme."

"That's right! This isn't the end Sonic!" Eggman's shout carried down from his position settling back in the Egg Mobile. "I'll be back with another plan and one day Mobius will fall under my control once more!"

Metal Sonic rose into the air with Orbot and Cubot hovering behind them. Eggman turned his head noticing Mecha Sonic diving down towards Knuckles, the guardian gliding on the warm air currents lashing out landing a blow on Mecha Sonic.

"Come on! We'll have to retrieve Mecha Sonic before he gets himself destroyed by that gullible idiot!"

Sonic, Shadow and Silver set off in pursuit of the Egg Mobile, determined to not let Eggman reclaim Mecha Sonic and hoping to end the war once and for all.

* * *

Meanwhile on the ground the rest of the Resistance charged once more for Eggman's army. Amy, Tails and the Chaotix led the charge.

"Don't let a single robot get away!" Vector's shout carried over the crowd. "Once this war's over we'd better get a significant paycheck for our actions in the war!"

"I'm sure you'll get paid Vector!" Amy called out. "Right now, we need to focus our attention on Eggman's forces!"

Upon hearing Amy's words the Resistance destroyed the last remaining forces of Eggman's army. The G.U.N fighter jets soared over ahead picking of any of Eggman's robots. Tails, Gadget and Zerinn paused noticing an ear-splitting noise, that almost ruptured their eardrums.

"That must mean Sonic, Shadow and Silver were successful in destroying the Egg Emperor!" Tails exclaimed. "We'd better get out of the way if we don't want to get crushed by any falling parts coming from the Egg Emperor."

Right on cue, several parts of the destroyed Egg Emperor came raining down onto the ground prompting several Resistance members to run about in several different directions in a panic to avoid being crushed by the pieces of falling flaming metal leaving small craters in the earth.

In his haste, to escape Gadget tripped over a tree root sending him sprawling over the ground. The wolf glanced over his shoulder only to feel a pair of hands grabbing him by the shoulder dragging him away from the piece of metal striking the ground narrowly missing his head.

"Gadget are you alright?" Zerinn asked.

Gadget looked up at the sight of Mikhail and Zerinn holding onto each of his arms having pulled the wolf away from the site where the piece of flaming metal crashed into the ground inches away from Gadget's feet.

"I'm fine," Gadget said breathlessly. "Mikhail, Zerinn thank you. I can't believe how close I came to dying for real this time. Zerinn, you didn't have to do that."

Zerinn shrugged his shoulders not making eye contact with Gadget. "You've been through enough pain during this war. Like I've said before I'm well aware saying sorry won't magically fix things, and it'll take time to do so."

Mikhail pulled Gadget into a tight hug which Gadget returned. "I'm glad you're safe. Let's get to safety before we get crushed."

The three Mobians raced across the ground avoiding pieces of debris slamming into the ground.

* * *

Knuckles flung himself to the ground ducking to avoid another charge form Super Mecha Sonic ascending into the air and turning to face his opponent. Mecha Sonic's eyes scrutinized Knuckles waiting for an opportunity to sink his claws into the guardian's throat and spill his blood on the ground.

The two of them had exchanged blows several times with Mecha Sonic coming away with a few dents lining his body. Knuckles winced ignoring the lacerations along his fur trickling blood, holding his fists close to his chest preparing to land another blow on Mecha Sonic.

"Come and get me scrap heap!"

Super Mecha Sonic dived towards the ground his claws extended, but what the robotic hedgehog failed to realize his armor turned into a deep cobalt blue once more. Knuckles seized his chance leaping up pounding away at the robot's hull, the force of the punches sending Mecha Sonic crashing to the ground leaving a deep furrow in the soil.

Mecha Sonic erupted out of the ground ignoring the sparks dancing along his joints before he ascended into the sky once more curling his arms inwards building up a small ball of crimson energy before firing them off in rapid scission at Knuckles.

The echidna dodged each and every one of the blasts wincing at the heat each of the energy balls made in the ground leaving behind smoking craters. Mecha Sonic lunged for Knuckles colliding with the guardian.

"Is that all of you've got, Mecha Sonic?" Knuckles asked glaring at the robotic hedgehog.

In response Mecha Sonic pinned one of Knuckles' arms to the ground while using his right hand pressing down on the echidna's throat beginning to choke the life from Knuckles.

Knuckles began to cough feeling the sharp tips of Mecha Sonic's claws beginning to dig deep into his flesh, cutting of the vital oxygen to his lungs. In an act of pure desperation Knuckles turned his right hand upwards making certain the sharp spurs along his hands were pointing upwards.

In one swift movement Knuckles drove the spurs deep into Mecha Sonic's underside dragging them through the robot's body severing wires and vital components, a gush of oil erupted out of the robot's chest piece along with sparking wires.

Mecha Sonic jerked back releasing his hold on Knuckles allowing the echidna to scramble free of the robot's grasp putting distance between him and the doomed robot. In the blink of an eye one of the severed wires coming into contact with the leaking oil. In an instant Mecha Sonic's body was torn apart in an explosion.

Knuckles stood watching the robot disintegrating into a ball of flame until nothing remained of Mecha Sonic except for a pair of legs crumpling to the ground.

"No not Mecha Sonic!" Eggman's shout carried through the air. Knuckles turned around to see Eggman glaring down at him from his Egg Mobile, Metal Sonic, Orbot and Cubot hovering next to him.

"You may have stopped my conquest of Angel Island, but I can guarantee this is not the end of my plans!" Eggman exclaimed noticing Sonic, Shadow, Silver along with the rest of the Resistance hurrying over to Knuckles' side.

"Well, I'd think you need to come up with a new plan first!" Sonic exclaimed flashing a smile. "Let's see your Phantom Ruby's shattered, Super Neo Metal Sonic's been defeated, Mecha Sonic's toast along with your army. You need to build a new army first, so far I give your plan to reclaim Mobius a six out of ten."

Eggman glowered trembling with rage before swinging his arm back and forth knocking Orbot around. "This isn't the end Sonic! I will be back to reclaim Mobius one day!"

In response, Eggman shot off into the distance with Metal Sonic following behind him until the two of them were tiny specks in the distance. For a few minutes, the atmosphere remained silent until loud cheers filled the air.

"We did it!" Knuckles broke the silence pumping one of his fists into the air in triumph followed by the rest of the Resistance cheering that Angel Island had been saved, Eggman's plans had been prevented once more saving Mobius.

Sonic turned back to face the Resistance with a grin on his face. "It's over we've finally put Eggman in his place once and for all! I can officially say Mobius is safe!"

More cheers followed Sonic's statement. Tails and Amy approached Sonic. "It's finally over, I'm resuming work on the deroboticizer. If my calculations are correct it should reverse Eggman's roboticization process."

"That's great Tails," Amy said. "Finally everyone will be free. I'm glad the war's over."

Sonic said nothing choosing instead to gaze out at the horizon a small content smile on his face at the prospect of seeing so many innocent Mobians, at last, being freed from their robotic prison. "It'll be a while before Eggman comes back with another plan. For now, let's rest easy and focus our efforts on rebuilding Mobius."

Tails and Amy nodded in silent agreement as they glanced up at the morning sky. In a way, it was almost symbolic, the first rays of the morning sun symbolized light returning to Mobius after chasing the last few dark clouds which had been the Eggman Empire's cold tyrannical reign over the world.

* * *

 _Author's note Well, after all this time Eggman's plan has finally been foiled and Mobius is truly safe once more. Personally, this was one of my favorite chapters to write._

 _Originally, I did have plans for the Egg Dragoon to make an appearance in this fic, but after replaying the Egg Emperor fight, I realized since Neo Metal Sonic was going to play a pivotal role in this fic, I decided to add in the Egg Emperor since I figured it would be a twist no one would see coming._

 _The reason as to why Eggman targeted Silver the most during the final battle which led to Silver being taken out of the fight first wasn't due to me developing a dislike for Silver._

 _Eggman simply went after Silver who had the least experience, with his super form. Another reason for Eggman targeting Silver during the fight is because Eggman has seen Silver's powers in action before, so he wanted to get rid of Silver quickly as possible, so he could focus his efforts on dealing with both Sonic and Shadow._

 _This is not an attack on either Silver or his character since I figured he wouldn't have much experience with a super form which is another reason he was the first one to drop out of the fight._

 _There is a small reference to Sonic Satam in this chapter hidden somewhere in this chapter. I couldn't resist not putting it in._

 _As per usual constructive criticism/ reviews and thoughts are welcomed and appreciated as always. I will see you guys with the second to last chapter of this fic soon sometime next week. Thank you all for your support and have a safe weekend._


	45. After the battle

_Author's note Once again, I'm sorry for the delay. The blame is on me since I intended to upload this story last Friday, but I had to attend something at the last minute which left me to busy upload this chapter. Again I'm genuinely sorry for the delay._

 _It's hard to believe it's been a whole year since I uploaded the first chapter of the Illusionary Resistance. It feels like yesterday when I uploaded the first chapter. Honestly, I never imagined it would get to be this popular, now that the story's almost over, it feels a little surreal._

 _Well, ladies and gentlemen, we are almost at the end now. After this chapter, the only thing remaining is the epilogue along with my thoughts on this story. In advance, I will say the Illusionary Resistance itself turned out to be one of my favorite projects to work on._

 _As always, special thanks go to The Sensational Spider Dom 321, TGN, Yami Chaos 27, Alexandria Prime, bajy, Sharp Dragon Klaw,_ Stephanieeiche _10 and Black Twilight Wolf for leaving a review. Thank you all so much for the support and sticking with me throughout this story._

 _Special thanks go to Angst Cannon and Ventus Tempest for favoriting and following this story and to The Crazy Tsar for leaving a follow. I genuinely appreciate the support._

 _Disclaimer It's the same one like the previous chapters. I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog._

* * *

The first few hours following the Resistance's triumph over Eggman, in the Resistance's eyes it was another well-earned victory. The Resistance turned their attention towards retrieving the broken robots carrying them back to the Resistance ships to be properly disposed of once they returned to Sunset Heights.

Rouge stood off to the side with both Omega and Shadow next to her, gazing down at a small monitor attached to a comm unit on her wrist. Abraham Tower's face gazing sternly back at her from the screen. "We're all too aware of the loss of the Heavy Dog unit. We will hold a mass funeral for them at headquarters."

"They held their own," Rouge spoke softly. "It's a little hard to take in since we've been working alongside them for years. So many lives were lost during both the war and the battle to reclaim Angel Island."

Shadow closed his eyes in silence, head turned to the side, glancing up at the sky with a small frown on his face looking up at the skies before he broke the silence. "We've fought a long war. Hopefully, the doctor won't launch another attack soon."

"I deduce the scenario of Eggman unleashing another attack on Mobius is unlikely," Omega said. "For now, the best chance for Mobius' survival is to focus our efforts on rebuilding the cities destroyed in the war, to increase the citizen's odds of survival."

"There's also still the matter of the Jackal Squad," Shadow intoned keeping his tone even. "We can't forget, Zerinn and the rest of his mercenary squad helped Eggman while committing a long list of war crimes."

A low sigh came from the comm unit. "Well, our jail cells are far too crowded to allow any more inmates, since it would cause mass panic if Infinite were returned to our prison in Westopolis," Abraham spoke up from the comm unit. "Perhaps the Resistance might be able to work out a deal with them."

Shadow turned his head, noticing several members of the Resistance standing in a small semi-circle around the members of the Jackal Squad. Chaser, Sahara, Mikhail and Gadget were talking in low tones with Sonic, Tails and Amy. Shadow could overhear a few words of their conversation on the breeze.

"So, we're going to arrest them, now right?" Chaser asked casting a skeptical glance over at the small group of jackals. "I won't deny Zerinn saved Gadget from being crushed by a piece of debris, but the question remaining is another prison willing to take him, and the rest of his squad apart form Kaito?"

"I've heard, that most of the prisons on Mobius refuse to take Zerinn because he used to be Infinite," Sahara said. "Personally, I don't have any issue with Zerinn being locked away for good even if he used to be friends with Gadget."

Saber, Quartz and Nephthys overheard Sahara's words, instead choosing to focus their attention on Zerinn. Kaito loyal as ever stood next to his half-brother placing an arm around Zerinn's shoulders in a show of support.

"Well, the fight's over then," Saber said not making eye contact with Zerinn, his tail thudding against the ground. None of the other jackals spoke unsure what to say to their former leader. Quartz opened his mouth undoubtedly make a barbed comment until Nephthys elbowed him in the side.

"Zerinn, give us one reason we should even give you a second chance?" Saber asked. "I know we've just fought together, but still it was because of your foolish decision, Ace, Flint, Blade, Roscoe, and Iris are dead."

"I'm well aware a simple apology won't bring anyone back," Zerinn acknowledged Saber's words. "Look, I've been a terrible leader. It's why I'm stepping down and quitting the mercenary lifestyle. If Saber wants to lead the Jackal Squad from here on it, then it's fine by me."

Everyone fell silent upon hearing Zerinn's announcement. Kaito stared in disbelief his brain struggling to process his half brother's words. Zerinn didn't have to look around the area, fully aware, of Chaser and Sahara exchange a quick glance in silence along with Gadget and Mikhail.

"You're not joking about this are you?" Quartz inquired in disbelief. "Sure, no one here's going to deny we've all majorly screwed up, but I'm sure someone will eventually hire us for a job again."

Kaito shook his head from side to side, a forlorn expression on his face. "No, Zerinn's right, after everything he did as Infinite, and with most of us fighting alongside Eggman, our reputation is down the drain. No one will ever hire us again for any more jobs, Quartz. It's over."

Silence fell over the group upon hearing Kaito speak the last two words. For a while, no one said anything until Nephthys broke the silence. "The only thing we can do now is to accept whatever punishment the Resistance decides for us now. If they want us to spend the rest of our lives in jail, then that's fine with me."

"That's all fine and good Kaito," Zerinn said turning to face Kaito a small frown on his face. "But you will get off scot-free because you fought alongside the Resistance. Don't bother staying with us; you deserve to live your own life."

Kaito fell silent upon hearing Zerinn's words. It was true no one would contradict Zerinn's story even after his time as Infinite. The jackal stood his ground, his lip, curling upon seeing Shadow approaching them. The jackal stepped in between Shadow and his squad mates, determined to protect them from the one who killed half of his squad mates.

"Look, I'm not good with apologies," Shadow said aware of the hostile glares aimed at him from the members of the Jackal Squad. "I'm well aware, I went too far in killing half of your squad. However, if I didn't fight back, they would have killed me, but I'm aware I crossed a line in doing so. If both you and the rest of the Jackal Squad are willing to help rebuild Mobius while under the Resistance's close supervision, then I believe that arrangement will work out."

Zerinn parted his mouth to make a retort, as he noticed Sonic approaching him a small frown on the hedgehog's face with Tails and Amy not too far behind him, leaving the jackal to wonder how much of the conversation they'd overheard.

"I would accept the offer," Sonic chimed in, ignoring the tired glare Zerinn gave him. "No one will forgive you right away unless you're willing to change. I'm not saying we're going to be friends, nor can I say how long it will take for Gadget to forgive you, but if you're willing to move forward and prove you can be a better person, then perhaps things will change."

Gadget for the first time walked towards Zerinn, noticing the jackal turn to face him. "Zerinn, I know things won't ever be the same again, but if you're going to take the first step, then perhaps I'll be able to forgive you."

Zerinn fell silent. The only signs of his discomfort were his tail thudding against the ground. The jackal heaved a sigh his shoulders rising and falling with the movement. Zerinn turned to face Shadow, his face was emotionless.

"My squad's suffered enough under my leadership," Zerinn admitted. "Yeah, yeah we'll take you up on your offer to help rebuild this boring world."

Sonic, stepped back allowing Zerinn and the rest of the Jackal Squad to follow Shadow back to where Omega was standing. Zerinn silently took the small comm device as Shadow passed the small comm unit over to Zerinn hearing their voices drifting over the wind.

Gadget lightly tapped Sonic on the shoulder, a small smile on the wolf's face. "That was well said Sonic. I can't forgive Zerinn right now for killing my friends, but maybe someday, both Mikhail and I can forgive him."

"You don't have to forgive him now, Gadget," Sonic said. "That kind of stuff will take time. Besides, I know both you and your brother are going to be a valuable asset in helping us rebuild Mobius."

Gadget allowed a smile, offering a fist bump to Sonic which the hedgehog returned, hurrying to catch up with both Amy and Tails who were patiently waiting for him.

Sonic, Tails, and Amy passed a small group of Resistance soldiers wrapping up the bodies of the deceased soldiers in a white blanket with the Resistance logo stamped on the sheet's cover.

"They all fought bravely," Tails quietly said. "We'll honour their sacrifices. It's a shame we lost even more lives because of Eggman's attack."

Sonic sighed reaching out with one hand resting it softly across Tails' shoulder, a small frown never leaving his face. "I wish we'd been able to win this fight without any more lives being lost, but we'll build a memorial to remember then. They may be gone, but they will live on in the memories of their loved ones."

Amy nodded slowly, looking around at the scenes of devastation and noticing how much damage had been inflicted on Angel Island. Most of the trees making up Mushroom Hill Zone had been destroyed in the battle, patches of burned soil littered the ground. "How long do you think it will take for Angel Island to regain its former beauty?" Amy asked.

"Eh, this island's always on the move," Sonic said hoping to reassure Amy. "Besides after Eggman's new embarrassing loss, I doubt he'll be back in a hurry to reclaim Angel Island, so Knux has a moment to rest and relax,"

Espio paused scanning around his surroundings a small tense frown on his face. "Speaking of Knuckles has anyone seen him? He was here a moment ago."

"Yeah! He still needs to give a big victory speech on our victory!" Charmy exclaimed.

"Knowing him, he probably went to check on the Master Emerald to make sure Eggman didn't tamper with it." Silver said. "I'll come with you since I want to say goodbye to him before I head back to my future."

Everyone fell silent at Silver's words. Now the threat of the Eggman Empire had passed, it was now apparent the time had come for the time traveller to return to his future. Silver didn't have to glance around the room, seeing several faces glancing sadly back at him.

"Do you really have to go?" Charmy asked his lower lip trembling.

"I'm sorry Charmy, but I have to return to my future," Silver replied sadly, unable to make eye contact with anyone in the Resistance.

"If Silver doesn't return to his future, it could cause a time paradox," Tails said softly. "Once we return to Sunset Heights, I'll do my best to track down a Chaos Emerald, so I can create a fake Chaos Emerald that will allow you to travel back to your future."

Sonic came forward placing a hand on Silver's shoulder. "If you hadn't come back in time to warn us of the danger, I don't think any of us would be here right now. We're all going to miss you, Silver. You were one of our best fighters."

"I'll miss mostly everyone here," Silver said softly trying to lighten the mood. "It was an honor fighting alongside everybody and getting to meet you Sonic."

Rouge stood off to the side having overheard Silver's conversation and waiting for her chance to speak a small smile graced her features.

"To answer your question, Sonic, I can only assume Knuckles is probably heading to the Hidden Palace Zone."

"Thanks for the info guys! I'll head down to the Hidden Palace Zone to check on Knux!"

In the blink of an eye, Sonic sprinted towards the Hidden Palace Zone, with Rouge and Silver in tow and heading towards the entrance to the Hidden Palace Zone.

* * *

Knuckles anxiously hurried down the steps to the Master Emerald Chamber. He ran a hand over the giant green gem's surface checking for any signs of damage to the giant emerald. The guardian exhaled a sigh of relief seeing both Tikal and Chaos glancing up at him briefly through the surface of the emerald and reassuring the guardian there was nothing wrong with the Master Emerald.

"Phew, Eggman didn't get his hands on you," Knuckles said in relief collapsing on top of the Master Emerald and allowing his legs to dangle over the edge of the giant emerald, leaning back on the smooth gem's surface and sighing in relief.

A sweet smell filled his nostrils. Knuckles opened his eyes to see Rouge smiling down at him from her position in the air, her wings beating lightly and a small coy smile appeared on her face.

"Good morning sleepy head, I trust that you're keeping my emerald well protected then?"

"After everything that's happened, you haven't changed, have you?" Knuckles asked with a chuckle, sitting up on the Master Emerald.

Knuckles noticed for the first time Rouge wasn't alone. Sonic and Silver entered the Master Emerald chamber, the latter gazing around at the cracked Super Emeralds resting on their pedestals in awe.

"Wow, so those are the Super Emeralds," Silver said. "I can see why we didn't think of using them in the war. They would've given Eggman an advantage over us, and I don't think they would've been of any use to us in their current state."

"Yeah, I kinda broke them when Eggman stole the Master Emerald from Knuckles," Sonic chuckled nervously. "So, Knux how's the Master Emerald doing? I trust Eggman didn't do anything to interfere with the Master Emerald, did he?"

"Not that I can think of. I was too busy dealing with Mecha Sonic, so I can't say for certain," Knuckles said scanning an eye over the Master Emerald. "I hope not anyway. So, what brings you down here? Because of the war is now over, the Resistance can now focus their attention on helping Mobius recover"

"Yeah, I figured you would say that," Sonic said with a grin. "Eggman's been defeated and won't be coming back to bother anyone for a while. Let me guess, you want everyone to leave your island now?"

"You know me too well by now," Knuckles said wryly glancing at Silver. "So, I take it you will be returning to your future then Silver?"

"Yes, I am," Silver said. "Knuckles, I know we didn't exactly get along when we first met, but I wanted to say thank you, for everything. For believing me when I warned you about the threat about to befall Mobius. Commander, it was an honor to work alongside you the most during my mission."

Knuckles jumped off the emerald holding out a hand for Silver to shake. Silver clasped hands with Knuckles smiling.

"Safe travels back to your future, Silver," Knuckles said. "I know we didn't get off to a great start when our paths first crossed, but you proved to be a trustworthy ally to us. You fought hard, now it's time for you to back to your time."

"Thank you Knuckles," Silver said. "Despite what happened with Operation Big Wave, you were still a great leader of the Resistance."

"Careful, Silver, we don't want to give him a swelled ego now," Sonic called out grinning.

Knuckles huffed in annoyance biting down on his lip. "The sooner you guys get off my island, the better it'll be for everyone. The war's over, it's time for everyone to rest and focus on rebuilding Mobius."

Sonic, Silver and Rouge turned to exit the Master Emerald chamber as Rouge turned to face Knuckles one last time a smile gracing her face.

"I'll be back to pay a visit to that beautiful jewel soon Knux," Rouge said with a wink.

Knuckles allowed a small chuckle to escape his lips rolling his eyes. "Some things never change. Go on, I'm sure everyone else is waiting for you."

"See you Knuckles, I know you'll keep the Master Emerald safe." Sonic's voice drifted back on the wind. The three Mobians took their cue to leave the Hidden Palace heading back the way they came.

Knuckles sighed turning back to run a hand over the surface of the Master Emerald searching for any signs of corruption, feeling a small bubble of relief when he found none. "From now on, I promise no more harm will come to the Master Emerald," Knuckles said. "I may be trapped on this island forever, but I will do my duty until my final breath."

* * *

Sonic, Silver and Rouge made their way out of the Hidden Palace Zone. They arrived back at the landing site, noticing the rest of the Resistance along with the Jackal Squad had silently boarded the ships. With a low hum, the ships took off into the air heading towards the direction of Sunset Heights. Silver remained at the back of the ship watching Angel Island fading from sight.

Sonic silently came to stand next to Silver. The telekinetic hedgehog turned around to gaze around his surroundings seeing the rest of the Resistance members standing in their groups. Rouge mingled with several of the Resistance members engaged in various conversations. Shadow and Omega kept to themselves in a corner.

Tails and Amy also mingled with the crowd, speaking to several Resistance members. Sonic smiled overhearing Tails talking about his deroboticizer, reassuring Amy the second they arrived back in Sunset Heights he would complete his work on the deroboticizer.

The Chaotix were in the middle of the room putting on a show for the Resistance soldiers. Vector's singing caused several members to cover their ears.

"Agh, Vector your singing's going to rupture someone's eardrums!" Charmy protested, holding his hands over his antenna.

"Quiet, Charmy! You're jealous, my singing is one day going to make us rich!" Vector exclaimed.

The Jackal Squad were being observed by Chaser, Mikhail, Sahara and Gadget, all four of them having a conversation with each other speaking in low tones. Most of the Resistance watched the group of jackals, watching Zerinn warily in case he attempted to kill them.

"It's a beautiful sight," Silver said as he turned to face Sonic. "Promise me one thing, Sonic, that you'll be around to help restore Mobius to its former glory."

Sonic let out a low chuckle. "You should know me by now Silver. Mobius is not only my home, but it's also everyone else's too. No matter what even if it takes years, we're going to restore Mobius to its former beauty."

Satisfied with Sonic's answer Silver smiled. The two hedgehogs continued to watch Angel Island until it vanished from view, the ships continued their journey onwards heading through the early morning skies back to Sunset Heights.

* * *

Author's _note. Well, we're almost at the end now. The epilogue_ will _tie up a few things such as Tails completing the deroboticzier because I haven't forgotten about the Robians. I also haven't forgotten about Shadow's promise to build a memorial to the members of the Jackal Squad which is something you'll see being brought up in the epilogue._

 _I also wanted to give the Jackal Squad a realistic ending. Even though Quartz, Saber_ and _Nephthys reluctantly aided Eggman in maintaining his iron grip over the world, after the Resistance reclaimed Mobius it's become clear to Zerinn, the Jackal Squad's reputation is at an all-time low, since no one will most likely hire them for any work due Zerinn becoming Infinite and helping Eggman take over Mobius._

 _There will be one more moment resolving Gadget's plot with Zerinn. It will take time for Gadget to forgive Zerinn for his crimes. I didn't want to take the cliche, happy ending route where Gadget immediately forgives Zerinn for saving his life once, and they become best friends again. I have something planned out for them in the final chapter. All I can say about the moment is don't expect Gadget to forgive Zerinn straight away._

 _Eggman will appear in the epilogue, so he's not dead since I have one more moment planned for him._

As _per usual any constructive criticisms/ any accidental errors I need to go back and fix/ thoughts and reviews are welcomed and appreciated. I will see you guys soon with the final chapter sometime within next week. Thank you all for sticking with this story right_ up _until the end._


	46. A new beginning

_Author's note. Sorry for the delay for the last time, I've been busy, but after all this time the finale's finally here._ _Well, I'm going to be placing my thoughts on the project as a whole in my post author's note, since I needed some time to gather my thoughts about this story._

A huge thank you goes out to everyone who left a favorite, follow or by even viewing this story, you've helped it reach over 29,000 views, three hundred and ninety reviews, seventy-two favorites and sixty-two follows. Thank you all so much for the support, I genuinely appreciate it.

 _Special thanks as always goes to TGN, SD321, Yami Chaos 27, Alexandria Prime, bajy, Turquoise Triangle, Sharp Dragon Klaw, Stephanieeiche 10, Black Twilight Wolf and Cabent Yoze, for leaving a review. I also want to extend a thank you for the love, support, and constructive criticism and for sticking with this story right up until the end._

 _A special thank you goes to Canzet Yote and Impish Dude 2100 for the favorite. Also a thank you goes out to wolfblue2 and Demonman 50, for the favorite and follow. I genuinely appreciate the support._

 _I hope you all enjoy the final chapter of The Illusionary Resistance, it's been a journey we've had and now it's time to say farewell to it._

 _Disclaimer I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. It's copyrighted to Sega. The only thing I can take credit for is this rewrite._

* * *

Meanwhile back in Sunset Heights most of the citizens awoke early in the morning, eagerly racing down to the nearest electronics store and clustering around the single TV, anxiously awaiting the result of the Resistance's fight against the Eggman Empire. The image flickered to life of an Ocelot reporter sitting at the screen a small tired smile gracing his face.

"This just in, we've received a news report from Commander Abraham Tower of G.U.N that the Resistance were able to successfully reclaim Angel island from the Eggman Empire! Mobius is saved once more thanks to the heroic actions of Sonic the Hedgehog and the Resistance!"

Cheers erupted at the ocelot's statement. A family of wolves turned to hug each other, in nothing, but pure relief the threat of the Eggman Empire finally was over. Everyone in the small crowd embraced each other, cheering at the sight of the Resistance's fleet appearing over Sunset Heights, heading towards an open field and landing on the wide grassy plains.

The hatch to the back of the ship opened allowing Sonic to smile and wave at the crowd while heading down the ramp, the Resistance silently following behind him, carrying the bodies of the fallen soldiers, draped in a white blanket with the Resistance logo stamped on it.

Sonic, Tails, Amy and Espio were the first ones to leave the interior of the ship. Shadow, Rouge and Omega followed silently. Shadow and Rouge kept a tight grip on Zerinn's arms, while the rest of the Jackal Squad followed behind them in silence. The Chaotix, Silver, Gadget, Mikhail, Chaser and Sahara brought up the rear followed by the rest of the volunteer soldiers, heading down the ramp of the ship.

Zerinn lifted his head, meeting the angry glares, and a few mutters coming from the crowd, most of them eying Zerinn distrustfully. The jackal returned the glare his jaw clenched, and his tail thudding the ground slightly.

Gadget noticed Zerinn suddenly becoming tense. Before anyone could stop him, Gadget stepped forward and reached out with a hand placing it on Zerinn's shoulder. "Zerinn, that's enough."

Zerinn spun around on his heel startled by the wolf's touch on his shoulder. "Fine, I've been slapped with a life sentence anyway. It's not like anything I can do is going to change these idiots minds anyway."

Sonic stepped forward, Tails, Espio and Amy at his side, holding his hands out for silence, the crowd reluctantly doing so. Sonic stepped forward, smiling sadly and glancing over at the crowd.

"As you probably know, we were successful in reclaiming Angel Island from Eggman's forces," Sonic said with a small forced smile. "However, I won't deny, there were lives lost during the battle. I promise you there will be a memorial erected in honor, of the brave souls who lost their lives during the war."

A respectable hush fell over the area. Wails of grief came from several Mobians sinking to their knees in grief, hands over their faces. The Mobians standing next to them sank to the ground, wrapping their arms around them, to comfort them.

Amy took this as her cue to step forward her eyes wet with unshed tears, but putting on a brave face, turning to address the crowd. "They all fought bravely. I'm sure everyone on Mobius will honor their memory, so the sacrifice they've made will never be forgotten."

Tails scanned the crowds looking for any signs of Robians. The robotic Mobians stood in a small group off to the side looking up at the fox, expectantly. A pregnant pause filled the air until Tails found his voice. "I promise you the deroboticizer will work. I'm going to do everything, I can to ensure it will work for those affected by this process will be reunited with their families and friends."

Everyone fell silent, some cheers could be heard. Sonic led the way down the ramp of the ship, his friends and allies following him, with the rest of the Jackal Squad bringing up the rear, with several glares aimed at the group of jackals.

The Resistance headed into the bunker eager to rest after fighting in the long war.

* * *

Meanwhile high up in the early morning skies above Station Square, the Egg Mobile drifted through the skies. Eggman sat hunched over at the controls a scowl on his face. On the small monitor screen, an image of Sonic smiling while giving out his speech was more than enough to make Eggman's blood boil.

"Curse that Sonic! I was so close to reclaiming Mobius!" Eggman ranted leaning back in the Egg Mobile. "The Phantom Ruby's gone, so I guess it's back to the drawing board then."

Metal Sonic leaned over to give a gentle pat on Eggman's shoulder only to have the genius yank it away, glowering at Metal Sonic.

"Its partially your fault my plan to reclaim Mobius failed, Metal!" Eggman angrily exclaimed glowering at Metal Sonic. "Although, I can't fully blame you, as it was mostly due to the Phantom Ruby probably scrambling your circuits and leading to your sense of grandeur in conquering Mobius."

Orbot turned to face Eggman. "Well, boss you set a new record. You successfully conquered Mobius for six months, a feat you'll probably never achieve ever again."

Eggman glowered, slapping Orbot around twice a fierce sneer on his face, showing his displeasure at one of his robotic assistant's words. "Don't ever say that again. Sonic and his allies, may have won this time, but one day, they won't be so lucky, and the Eggman Empire will rise once more!"

"Right, and we've heard you say that for the millionth time already," Orbot said rolling his eyes. "Besides, boss, we need time to rebuild our forces."

Cubot who remained silent suddenly piped up. "Oh, I know! Let's play I spy to pass time! I spy with my little eye something beginning with C!"

"Oh, I love this game!" Orbot exclaimed clapping his hands in excitement. "Let me guess is it, clouds?"

"That's right! How did you ever know?" Cubot inquired. "Okay, next one then. I spy with my little eye something blue, shaped like a hedgehog robot."

"Is it Metal Sonic?"

"Correct again!" Cubot exclaimed. "Okay now for the last tone, who's the man slumped over the controls, nursing another defeat?"

Eggman groaned rolling his eyes slumping even further over the controls. "I should've removed, Cubot's voice chip, sooner. Oh well, at least he's not speaking like a pirate this time."

Eggman continued to drive on ahead, Metal Sonic hovering beside him, trying to drown out his robotic assistants. For now, he was content to let Sonic, and the rest of the Resistance enjoy their victory while it lasted. Eggman sighed, in annoyance. For now, it was back to the drawing board, where he would come up with a plan that wasn't guaranteed to fail the next time.

* * *

Three days later, the sun began to crest over the horizon of Sunset Heights. A hundred meters, away from the entrance to the bunker a black obelisk was a hundred metres away from the Resistance. Gadget exited the bunker, with Chaser, Mikhail, and Sahara trailing behind him. In her hands, Sahara silently carried a bouquet of flowers setting it down at the base of the monument.

Inscribed on the black marble were several names aligned in a row. Gadget traced five names his eyes wet with unshed tears. Shadow true to his word helped in the construction of the memorial, the names of the fallen members of the Jackal Squad etched into the marble surface, under the names of Gadget's and Mikhail's friends.

"Tyson, Mary, Aria, Ian and Russell, we did it," Gadget mumbled softly, his voice barely above a whisper. "The Resistance was able to take back Mobius. Eggman's rule over the planet is over if only you guys were here to see it. This was your victory too."

Gadget silently ran a hand over the names small tears pricking at the corner of his eyes.

"They were true heroes," Mikhail said lowering his head. "You should be proud to have fought alongside them."

A pair of footsteps echoed of the cobblestones. Everyone turned seeing Zerinn being escorted by a pair of Mobians, his jaw set into a tight frown shooting daggers at his guards. Seemingly ignoring Gadget and the others, Zerinn kneeled in front of the obelisk, reaching out with a hand to trace the smooth marble, silently not uttering a word to Gadget.

"Well, I guess you guys would be happy to know, I'm going to be spending most of my time back in your prison cell," Zerinn said bitterly glancing over his shoulder at the guards. "In a way, I suppose I had it coming. I can't undo my past actions. I ended your friends' lives - Blade, Roscoe, Iris, Ace and Flint are dead, and nothing I'll do will ever make anyone forgive me."

"I know, I won't forgive you," Sahara said hotly. "When you attacked the hospital where I worked, several of my friends lost their lives because of you. You're a monster and I hope you die soon."

Chaser turned to face Zerinn his fur bristling, staring daggers at the jackal. "You may be right, on the fact no one will ever forgive you. For now, there's been enough bloodshed and loss in this war. For now, we need to focus on rebuilding our home, and helping society establish itself."

Mikhail turned to face Zerinn a small scowl forming on his face. The wolf felt an urge to punch Zerinn in the face, to make him pay for all the pain he'd inflicted on his half-brother, both physical and emotional. Mikhail remembered the expression of fear appearing on Gadget's face right before Infinite had dragged him to Null Space.

"As much as I hate to admit it Zerinn," Mikhail said scowling. "You did save Gadget from being crushed by debris, back on Angel Island. Perhaps, someday, both Gadget and I will be able to forgive you."

A pregnant pause lingered after Mikhail said his piece. Gadget inhaled working up the courage to say what was on his mind. "Zerinn, I will say, I can't find it within me to forgive you for your actions right now. If you can prove you've changed, then maybe someday people will forgive you."

Zerinn fell silent his tail twitching in agitation, his eyes half closed. The jackal reached forward for the memorial again a small sad smile forming on his face. "You're right, for the last several months, I've made many stupid mistakes. Honestly, I don't need any forgiveness, I want to keep moving forward, that's all that matters to me, and making things right with Kaito and the others."

A tense silence followed after Zerinn made his statement. Gadget hesitantly approached Zerinn placing a hand on the jackal's shoulder.

"Then that's what you should do," Gadget said hoping to reassure Zerinn as if he'd picked up on the jackal's secret thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah I got it," Zerinn said with a small genuine smile for the first time in what felt like forever to the jackal.

A sound of footsteps alerted the group to the presence of a white cat racing towards them, her stride becoming hesitant when she noticed Zerinn among the small group.

"The Resistance is about to start up the deroboticizer," the cat said panting for breath. "Sonic says to bring Gadget and the others over to the Resistance Bunker at once."

Gadget's group followed the cat back towards the Resistance bunker arriving just in time to notice a small crowd already gathering near the entrance to the bunker with Tails, Sonic and Vector exiting the bunker carrying the Deroboticizer, setting it carefully on the ground.

Tails smiled making the last adjustments to the Deroboticizer a long line of Robians standing near it watching it warily. On a small table next to the fox, a fake of the white Chaos Emerald rested on a small table.

Quartz stood at the front of the line nursing his roboticized limb, yellow eyes darting up at the device his lips curled into a sneer.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Quartz inquired in a hostile tone of voice.

"It'll work, Quartz," Tails said hoping to reassure the wary jackal. "I've run several stimulated tests on it this morning. I know we fought on opposite sides of the war, but please trust me."

Sonic flashed a small smile at Tails. Despite the confident exterior the young fox was showing, he saw a small doubtful frown appear on Tails' face. Stepping forward he placed a hand on Tails' shoulder. "Have faith in Tails, Quartz. If he says your arm can be turned back to normal, it will be. My best friend would never lie about his inventions."

Quartz huffed, walked right up towards the deroboticizer standing in front of it, holding out his arm, closing his eyes waiting for something to happen.

"Okay, deroboticizer activating in three, two one."

A bright flash swiftly followed, as Quartz, lowered his arm, slowly beginning to open his eyes. His jaw dropped open in shock, gazing at the flesh and fur along his limb, with no traces of metal in plain sight on it. Quartz looked over at the crowd gingerly, testing his limb unable to repress the whoop of joy, escaping his lips.

"It really worked!"

Tails barely had time to react, before he was swept up by Quartz's hug feeling the jackal squeezing down hard on him. "Thank you, little fox. Thank you!"

"Gah! You're welcome, Quartz!" Tails gasped for breath taken by surprise by the strength of the jackal's hug. "Please put me down, there's still a lot of Mobians who need to be deroboticized."

Quartz left the front of the line to rejoin the rest of the Jackal Squad. Zerinn allowed a small smile to appear on his face upon seeing his squad mate expressing happiness over the successful procedure to deroboticize his limb.

"It's like, Eggman never roboticized it in the first place," Saber said in awe examining Quartz's arm, his fingers tracing the fur along Quartz's arm. The new leader of the Jackal Squad felt the heavy weight of responsibility settling onto his shoulders. Deep down, he wasn't sure if he could lead Nephthys, Quartz and Kaito towards a new future, but he had to push those doubts down.

A light touch on his shoulder, prompted Saber to spin around coming face to face with Zerinn, who had a warm smile on his face.

"You'll be a great leader," Zerinn said with a warm smile noticing Saber's unease, upon having a new responsibility thrust upon him. "I'll still be able to help you guys, when I'm not sitting in jail, under heavy guard most of the time."

"I spent most of my time with the Resistance," Kaito added in smiling. "Besides, you did a better job of keeping, Quartz, and Nephthys alive then I ever could."

Nephthys turned to face him a small smile on her face. "You're going to be just fine, Saber. Besides, we'll all be able to help you, in case you encounter any difficult decisions."

Saber looked around at his squad mates feeling at ease for the first time ever since the war had begun and gave a warm smiled aimed at his squadmates. "Thank you, I will do my best to make sure we'll be able to keep moving forward, no matter what happens from here on out."

The Jackal Squad fell silent watching the line of Robians walking one by one in an orderly line, through the deroboticizer. On the other side a fully deroboticized Mobian appear startled, gazing down at their hands looking down at the flesh and fur lining them, touching their hands to their faces in silent disbelief.

The Mobians hurried over to the nearest store windows examining themselves in the glass surface, tears of relief streaming down their faces, before running back into the crowd seeking out their friends and family for a tearful reunion.

Sonic, Silver, Tails and the rest of the Resistance stood on the outskirts of the crowd, hearing shouts of joy and happiness upon being freed from their robotic shells. Sonic turned his head glancing over in Silver's direction.

The telekinetic looked on small tears of happiness, in the corners of his eyes. The hedgehog raised his hand to wipe away the tears. "It's amazing, I didn't ever think, there would be a way for the roboticization process to be reversed, but I guess I shouldn't have given up hope at all."

Tails inclined his head bearing a small smile on his face, feeling his heart swell with pride upon hearing Silver's words. "While I mostly designed the deroboticizer myself, I did have some help from Gadget and Sonic for the past two days. If it weren't for their help, I don't think the success of the Deroboticizer would be possible."

"Its too bad Team Dark couldn't be here for this," Amy said. "Rouge sent a message, saying they were still busy aiding what's left of G.U.N in repairing Westopolis. G.U.N, lost seventy percent of their forces throughout the war, and Eggman's attack, so they need the time to rebuild their forces from the ground up."

Tails nodded turning towards the table where the Chaos Emerald rested. Without any hesitation, the fox picked it up walking across the field towards Silver. Everyone knew the time had come to say goodbye to Silver.

Tails silently handed the fake Chaos Emerald to Silver, unable to meet the telekinetic eyes. "We're going to miss you, Silver."

Silver made eye contact with his allies a small bittersweet smile forming upon his lips with a few tears leaking out from underneath his eyelids.

"I'm going to miss everyone here," Silver said softly. "When I first came here, I wasn't sure how I would help in saving my future. I know it wasn't a task I could complete on my own. Just thank you all so much."

Sonic stepped forward reaching out to shake Silver's hand shaking it warmly before the telekinetic hedgehog pulled Sonic into a hug. Silently the rest of the Resistance gathered around Silver several of them, hugging him wishing him safe travels back to his future.

"Knuckles already thanked me before we left Angel Island," Silver said. "Besides, I know you'll be able to bring Mobius back to its former glory."

Sonic stepped forward reaching out to shake Silver's hand, the two of them exchanging a fist bump. "Safe travels, Silver, I know your future's going to be great."

"Thank you Sonic and to everyone else for everything," Silver said with a warm smile holding the fake Chaos Emerald up high into the air. "Chaos Control!"

Everyone shielded their eyes from the bright flash of light that followed. Sonic lowered their eyes looking over at the spot where Silver once stood, leaving no signs he'd ever been there at all. Amy and Charmy sighed sadly with Sonic coming over to rest a gentle hand on their shoulders.

"I'm going to miss him too," Sonic said hoping to lift both Amy's and Tails' spirits. "We'll never forget Silver, he was a hero and he helped fight alongside us. We've all gotta work together to help bring Mobius back to its former glory."

Sonic and Tails glanced over at the Tornado parked on the runaway. Tails stared at the plane for a long time, in silence. It wasn't just Sunset Heights that needed their help, every single town in Mobius needed their assistance. Tails recalled flying over Park Avenue, Shamar, Metropolis. If there was one thing all three of the cities had in common, all of them suffered during the war.

"Sonic, it's not just Sunset Heights, that needs our help," Tails said thoughtfully.

"I had the same idea Tails," Sonic said having guessed what his younger brother had been thinking. "Besides, Ames and the others will be able to keep an eye on the Jackal Squad, in case things get out of hand."

"So, I take it you're taking off then?" Vector asked stepping forward with the Chaotix in tow. We're gonna keep an eye on things here, especially keeping an eye on the Jackal Squad. Besides, helping other towns is your thing, at least hopefully someday we'll get a hefty paycheck out of this whole deal."

Amy jabbed Vector hard in his side, turning to face Sonic with an earnest smile. "Don't worry about a thing, Sonic. We'll make sure, to keep an eye out for any of Eggman's remaining forces, to keep everyone safe."

"I wouldn't expect anything less of you Ames," Sonic said smiling. "We won't be gone forever, we'll come back to Sunset Heights from time to time to pick up supplies to aid the other towns. Besides, no more Phantom Ruby, so Eggman no longer has a trump card to rely on."

"I wish you nothing, but safe travels for all of you," Espio smiled warmly. "The road ahead, won't be a bumpy one, in restoring Mobius to its glory, especially with the doctor most likely, launching an attack in the future, a possibility we'll have to be prepared for."

"Eh, Eggman's forces are toast for now. So, I doubt he'll be back soon," Sonic said confidently. "Besides, if he does come back Tails and I will be back in a flash to aid you guys, that's a promise."

Mikhail and Gadget stepped away from the crowd. Mikhail walked towards Sonic. "Before you go, I wanted to say as an older brother, thank you so much for protecting Gadget, and helping him. It was an honor to fight alongside you, Sonic and the Resistance. Thank you for helping Gadget, when I wasn't around to help him."

Gadget reached forward to lightly touch Mikhail on the shoulder, reassuringly. "That's not true, even though you were busy spying on the Eggman Empire, and we fought together in the war. You may have been on the side-lines, but you were still a valuable part of the Resistance."

Gadget smiled having reassured his brother turning to face Sonic again, smiling warmly at the hedgehog. "Sonic, I know someday our paths will cross again. I never got the chance to say this, but thank you for everything, you've done for me. I'll strive to become a stronger hero, and to keep moving forward no matter what happens."

Sonic grinned upon hearing Gadget's words. "I know you will have the strength to keep moving forward. In fact, I'm looking forward to the day we meet again Gadget."

Sonic smiled giving Gadget and Mikhail one last fast bump before leaping on top of the Tornado's wings hearing the propeller coming to life. The Chaotix, Gadget, and Mikhail took several steps back watching the Tornado traveling down the long runaway ascending into the skies. Sonic glanced over his shoulder watching Sunset Heights shrinking until it was a speck on the ground.

"So where to now Sonic?" Tails asked excitement in his voice.

"Wherever our travels, take us," Sonic replied. "Park Avenue will be our first stop, since it was the first town affected by the war."

Tails nodded turning the Tornado to the left heading towards Park Avenue. Under the glow of the evening sun, they were heading back to the town, where the war had begun leading to a lot of suffering, destruction, and loss. This time however, both Sonic and Tails would help the citizens take the first few steps in helping Mobius regain it's glory, by returning the light of hope to the citizens.

* * *

 _Author's Note. Well, here we are, after all this time we're finally at the end._

 _Now the time's come for me to give my personal thoughts on the project. Honestly when I first started out becuase I was perfectly content with how little attention it received at the start considering Sonic Force's reputation._ _However, I will say this story isn't perfect. There were several mistakes, in this fic well, m_ _ostly due to the fact the early chapters, were basically rewrites of the Rise of Infinite, Stress Test and Sonic's defeat against Infinite/Zerinn._

 _If you have any suggestions or tips for me on how to improve my writing, I would genuinely appreciate them._

 _I genuinely appreciate all of the constructive criticism and feedback I've received. There are a couple of things I wasn't too happy with. The first one was with the chapter taking place after it was revealed Infinite/ Zerinn and Gadget used to be friends, I went with the cliche route of people jumping to the wrong conclusion, something I should've put a little more planning into, since looking back on it, it's my biggest regret, I didn't put any more careful thought when it came to planning out that scene._

 _Also, I feel like there were moments where it seemed like whatever the characters said it felt like they were OOC. If there were any moments where the characters seemed OOC. I'm well aware having Knuckles fleeing Angel Island, after being defeated at the hands of Mecha Sonic and the Jackal Squad, still feels OOC to me. If there are moments where you found the characters OOC, please don't hesitate to let me know, so I know what not to do when I'm writing them in the future._

 _For the people wondering why there is a monument in front of the Resistance's bunker, after the war ended, Shadow kept his promise to Gadget and Mikhail and helped build a monument, with help from Gadget, Mikhail and members of the Resistance for a few days before Infinite escaped for the first time from the Resistance._

 _This fic wouldn't have been possible for some of my dear friends on the site. I want to give special thanks to TGN, SD321,bajy, Alexandria Prime, and Bluie the Jackal for reviewing this fic on day one._

 _I also want to give special thanks to both The Sensational Spider Dom 321 and Zoggerfifc for helping me editing a few chapters of this story. Both of you were a great help in pointing out the weak points in my writing and giving me suggestions on how to improve upon them. Check out both of Spider Dom's and Zoggerific's stories, since they are some of my personal favorite stories on the site._

 _What I plan to do for now is to take a break for a few days at least. Sorry for the lack of updates this month, I've been busy with several activities, and I just want some time to rest and to work on some one-shots, along with No Matter what. That project hasn't been canceled, it's because I've been busy helping my family renovate our new home, which is nearing completetion leaving me with not a lot of time to sit down and write._

 _As per usual, for the final time feel free to leave constructive criticism/ any accidental errors, I need to go back and fix/ thoughts/ and reviews, which will be welcomed and appreciated. Thank you all so much for the love, constructive criticism, which I genuinely do appreciate and support for this fic as a whole. I will see you all next time and take care of yourself._


End file.
